Elizabeth Greene
Hamden — Elizabeth Miller Greene passed away peacefully Aug. 10, 2023, with family at her bedside. She was born March 18, 1922, in Chester, N.Y., the daughter of Clara Elizabeth (Rogers) and Raymond Arlington Miller.
Elizabeth, better known as Betty, excelled in high school athletics. She turned her formidable energy to nursing, graduating as an RN from Columbia University School of Nursing in 1943. Soon becoming head nurse on her unit at New York Presbyterian Hospital, she looked after Allen Whipple’s patients, Virginia Apgar heading anesthesia. There she met the love of her life, medical student Nick. A year after marriage, they moved to Annapolis,
Md., for Nick’s new U.S. Navy assignment. As a Navy wife, whose husband was medical practitioner over a few thousand, she overlooked early mornings the queue of sailors forming at the porch of their home for medical care. Boston followed, then to Edinburgh, Scotland, next Rochester, finally settling into the greater New Haven arena in 1955. Betty dutifully attended to the needs of her children, instilling in them Depression Era values she grew up with. She volunteered in several organizations, was a part-time nurse and dedicated tennis player at the New Haven Lawn Club, whose members and staff became adjunct family. Betty received many rewards for her gardening acumen and floral design, including Garden Club of America’s Harriet DeWaele Puckett Creativity Award. She was president of the New Haven Garden Club and arranged in shows across the Atlantic. Attentive to humble as well as noted heritage, she was a member of the Mayflower Society and active in the Colonial Dames of America. She was an avid Yale hockey fan for decades, attending games in New Haven into her 90s. Betty and Nick traveled the world, birding widely in Africa, as well as Attu Island, and Costa Rica. Stalwart, kind, radiant, cheerful, gracious and thankful, with a keen memory for names and faces, of the Greatest Generation, some might say she was an exemplar. Onwards and upwards forever. Betty truly appreciated the outstanding staff at Whitney Center in Hamden, and friends who gathered nightly there at the pub, even until a week before her passing.
Betty was predeceased by husband Dr. Nicholas Misplee Greene; son Nicholas Pond Greene; grandson Nicholas Beard; daughter-in-law Kristin Greene; and brother William Miller. Betty is survived by daughter Cynther; son Joseph; grandchildren: Audrey, Conrad, Nanine, Christopher, Adam and Matthew; great-granddaughter Sukha; daughter-in-law Arien; and Stephanie and aide Adele. A private graveside ceremony pends, guided by the Episcopal Church, whose services ever sustained Betty’s strength.
The family is especially thankful to the caregivers at Whitney Center’s Health Center for their great ability, consideration and compassion. Donations in the memory of Betty may be made to Yale University and sent to: YSM Office of Development, Attn: Laura Wyrick, PO Box 7611, New Haven, 06519-0611, in Memory of Betty Greene on memo line. The Hawley Lincoln Memorial, New Haven, is in charge of arrangements.