Elizabeth (Betsy) Macdonald Gentry, 83, of North Haven, died peacefully on Feb. 2 at the Hospital of St. Raphael, with family members at her side.  She was the beloved wife of 59 years to Martin (Buck) Gentry. She was born Dec. 14, 1927 at Flowers Hospital in New York City, New York, daughter of the late Godfrey and Elizabeth Boeckeler Macdonald, formerly of Spring Hill, Westport.  Betsy was a graduate of Rosemary Hall in Greenwich and the Pennsylvania School of Horticulture in Ambler, Pennsylvania, where she earned a degree in horticulture.

Betsy was an accomplished artist who conducted classes and workshops for over 30 years in “Early American Art,” theorem painting and stitchery in her home on Skiff Street.  She was an elegant woman with a winning smile, infectious spirit, and gentle charm, which she shared with, and which was enjoyed by, everyone she met.

Betsy loved tennis, played brilliant bridge, and was an avid UCONN basketball fan (having been a player in youth). She also managed meets for the Yale Swim Club and enjoyed many boat trips along the Eastern seaboard as first mate with her husband.  

Betsy was a perennial “Best of Show” winner for her artistic works at the annual North Haven Fair.  In addition, she was active in the New Haven Garden Club and the National Garden Club of America, as well as the Connecticut Chapter of the Colonial Dames. She was a past treasurer of the Junior League of New Haven and a member of the New Haven Lawn Club and the North End Club.  

Betsy was a 10th generation family member of the founders of New Haven, North Haven, Wallingford, and Milford, as well as Cape May and Newark, New Jersey, through the marriage of Mary Brockett and Ephraim Pennington (1667).

 Besides her loving and devoted husband, she is survived by her brother, Godfrey Blair Macdonald of Memphis, Tennessee; three children, Megan Gentry and her life partner Judy of Leominster, Massachusetts, Harrison Blair Gentry of North Haven, and Richard (Hap) Harrison Gentry and his wife Linda Tucker of Saint Louis, Missouri; and two grandchildren, Michael Richard Gentry and Krystin Marguerite Bellamy, both of Saint Louis, Missouri.

A memorial service in celebration of her life will be scheduled for later in the spring at the New Haven Lawn Club, followed by burial in Bellefontaine Cemetery, Saint Louis, Missouri.  Donations may be made to the National Maritime Historical Society, the American Thoracic Society, the American Lung Association, or to a charity of one’s choice.