NASHUA, N.H. – Elizabeth “Betty” Tryon Libby, 94, died in her sleep July 14, 2006, in Nashua, N.H. Betty was born Oct. 16, 1911, in Medford, Mass. and was raised in South Portland from the age of three. She spent summers in Whitefield, N.H. where her parents ran The Poplars Cabins for visitors to the area. She graduated from the University of Maine at Orono in 1933 with a degree in home economics and had graduate training at Rutgers University in New Jersey. Betty worked for several years as a home demonstration agent for the Maine Cooperative Extension Service in the west-central part of the state. She and her husband, Winthrop, lived in Orono from 1939 to 1973, where Win held several university positions, including president of the University of Maine from 1969 to 1973. Betty was a very active “first lady” for the university, including many volunteer roles to improve access to medical and dental care for children and adults in the Orono area. Upon Win’s retirement from the university in 1973, they moved to Steuben, and St. Augustine, Fla. Betty was the chief instigator, with longtime friend, Leone Nutting, in acquiring land in Winter Harbor, and in 1962 built a small summer cottage that has been a center of activity for her extended family ever since. Betty Libby held progressive social and political views her entire life. She was not at all pushy, but would express her positions clearly if the occasion called for it. She was predeceased by her husband of 54 years, Winthrop, and her daughter, Marjorie Monteith. She is survived by her daughter, Joyce Douglass and her husband, Vaughn; son, Larry Libby and his wife, Lois; her late daughter’s husband, Douglas; seven grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. A private memorial event will be held as Betty preferred. Gifts in memory of Betty Libby may be made to the University of Maine with designation to the: Winthrop C. and Elizabeth T. Libby Student Assistance Fund, University of Maine, Alumni Association, P.O. Box 550, Orono, ME 04473-0550.
ELIZABETH T. LIBBY
