Tuesday, December 3, 2013
Hartford, Vt. — Beth Elaine
Phinney, 57, of Hartford, died peacefully after a long illness on
Saturday, Nov. 30, 2013, at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, with son
Chris Acker and husband Bob Raiselis at her side.
She was born in Boston, Mass., the second
daughter of Janice Hoyt Phinney of Norwich and Frederic N. Phinney of
Southold, New York. She grew up with her family near the Perkinsville,
Vt. farm of her grandparents, Perley and Irene Hoyt. She attended
schools in Weathersfield and graduated from Springfield High School in
1974.
She attended the University of Hartford and the
University of Vermont, where she developed her love and knowledge of
horticulture. Her gardening would be a lifelong interest and joy for her
and for others. She received an associates degree from the School for
Lifelong Learning in 1992.
Hers was a familiar voice in the 1980s and
1990s in the Upper Valley, first on Vermont Public Radio and then on
WKXE, but her work in radio had begun earlier, presenting news, music,
and special features at radio stations in several New England locations.
Her skill in creating engaging spoken-word programs as well as music
programs in many genres on the air was well-known.
She performed with and wrote for the political
satire group The Panther Players, taught, directed, and acted in theater
around the Upper Valley, consulted on education and the arts, and led
programs on public speaking. She was employed for the last several years
as a research associate at Leadership in Medicine in Norwich, Vermont.
Beth’s loyalty and loving care as a wife and
mother were deeply appreciated and reciprocated by Bob and by Chris and
his partner Taylor. Beth had a wonderful sense of humor and enjoyed
bantering with her sisters and with other members of the family and
friends. Everyone enjoyed her infectious smile and her quick wit. She
wrote commercial copy and scripts, poetry, short stories, and one-act
plays, as well as the occasional song, and had a beautiful speaking and
singing voice.
She had a life-long love of Vermont, and was
happiest when writing or gardening, or sitting with her family on the
porch of their home in White River Junction. Her love for her son, Chris
knew no bounds.
She is also survived by two siblings and their
families: Dawn E. Latané and her husband, David of Richmond, Va., and
Lisa J. Phinney and her son, Karl Abrahamsen of Tyresö, Sweden. Her
brother-in-law, Svein Abrahamsen, passed away in Sweden in 2012.
Also, maternal uncle and aunt, Richard and
Sandra Hoyt of Wayland, Mass., step-mother Judith Phinney of Southhold,
N.Y., Taylor Haynes of Wilder, Vt., and the members of the Raiselis
family of Fairfield, Conn.
Her family would like to thank Dr. John Hill
and the staff of the Norris Cotton Cancer Center, and the nursing staff
at 1 West at DHMC. Cremation and interment will be private. The family
requests that no flowers be sent; memorial contributions may be made to
Planned Parenthood of Northern New England. A celebration of her life
will be held in the spring.
http://www.vnews.com/home/9619072-95/beth-elaine-phinney
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