Elizabeth Honora Gallagher Enright was my sister, my younger sister. You know her as Betty Enright.
Betty was married longer than she was single, 56 years, and I think the story of her life is one of a long marriage and a deep commitment to her family.
Betty and Mick married young and didn’t have much money yet they raised five daughters to adulthood, bought homes, and lived comfortably. How did they do this? I think their strengths meshed.
Betty envisioned. She was the CEO. She planned, organized, explained and figured how to pay. Mick was the COO. He built. Betty thought he could build or fix anything. He built any and everything: furniture, fireplace, finished basement, and garage into family room. He fixed everything: appliances, plumbing, lamps, a steadily expanding porch and whatever else needed fixing.
Betty and Mickey raised five girls in a one-bathroom house.
Betty also had an excellent mind regarding money. She made one dollar do the work of two.
She worked two jobs much of her married life: one at home and the other in the business world. Each world got the best she could do.
Betty was an excellent cook and I never had a poor meal in her home. Her home was spotless. She sewed, organized and planned. She made quilts, ceramics; cakes for bake sales and dolls. In her spare time, she was the President of the Women’s Guild in St. Mary’s in East Islip. She was good at making money for the church. In Savannah, she was a member of the Women’s Guild in St. Francis Assisi and was instrumental in printing a cookbook. It also made money. She was a member and the Treasurer of the Women’s Guild in Mount Dora. About two years ago I found myself a recruit for St. Pat’s bazaar, collecting and selling books under the strict tutelage of my sister Betty. She took no guff from me. We made money for the church.
She also loved weddings and if you gave her an inch, she’d take it and twenty more feet. Her daughter Linda was getting married and wanted a small, quiet, cheap wedding. Betty took over (she was a force of nature) and Linda had a wedding the likes of which Savannah hadn’t seen before. Mostly Savannah wedding receptions were coffee, tea, and cookies. Not for Linda. Pale blue tuxes for the men, dining and dancing. It was great.
Betsy escaped most of this because she lived in Florida but came back to Savannah to marry from home. The bride’s maid’s dresses were delivered two days before the wedding and did not fit properly with off center necklines, uneven hems, droopy sleeves, askew tucks, all designed to infuriate Betty and goad her to action. In two days she fixed all the dresses to her satisfaction. No one was going to spoil Betsy’s wedding.
When my brother Jim asked her to make arrangements for his marriage, he thought it would give her a project. Again, only ten people, very small and quiet and intimate. He signed up for a Betty special. She organized, planned, well you know. About fifty people, all of them related to Jim or Margaret, crowded into the living, dining, kitchen, and porch of her home in Mount Dora. The meal was created by Chris and Linda. The wedding cake a creation of Alicia, who brought it from Savannah. Maura played her violin during the service and the rest of us Gallagher’ and Enright’ read appropriated passages. It was lovely. Margaret beamed and Jim cried. Betty glowed.
All throughout her marriage Betty’s health was never good and as she got older, she was less and less able to recover. The last few years were hard for her. She couldn’t do many of the things she loved.
She died a week short of her 75th birthday, with most of her family near and her whole family followed her wishes. She died in peace and with the Lord.
Betty was never rich or famous or renowned.
She knew her love, duty and commitment was to her family, husband and daughters.
She left five daughters, eight grandchildren and one great grandchild.
She and Mick strove to make good, loving people of them all.
Photo credits Chani Todd