Betty Mitchell

Betty Ann Mitchell, age 80, passed away peacefully in her sleep on October 13, 2026 after a difficult journey with Pulmonary Fibrosis.

Betty was born on May 12, 1946 to Janet Condrin Friedel and Joseph Charles Friedel in Harper Hospital in Detroit, Michigan where she grew up with her younger sister Mary Alice. She attended Presentation grade school where she had her first experience with sewing on projects in Brownies and Girl Scouts. Next was Immaculata High School, which she dearly loved, graduating in 1964 before attending Michigan State University and graduating in 1968 with a Bachelor of Science in Education.

After college she moved to New England where she married and settled in Scituate, Rhode Island to raise her two sons Joshua Joseph and Matthew William.

Being raised in a family of educators, Betty believed strongly in the power of education and community bonds, which led her to a career as a Middle and High School teacher, ending her career with over a decade of service as a Home Economics teacher at Scituate High School.

She touched countless lives in the classroom as well as through her work with student activities. Betty was recognized as Scituate’s Teacher of the Year in 1995 and by The National Association of Student Councils for the Warren E. Shull Adviser of the Year for the State of Rhode Island in 1997. She also served as Advisor to Scituate’s National Honor Society, as a Senior Counsellor for National Leadership Camps, and for many years as a Leadership Instructor for the Coalition for Advancement of Student Activities’ Student Leadership Training Program. She worked tirelessly and passionately to include as many students and faculty as possible in these life-changing programs, including her sons.

Betty was an incredibly creative and industrious DIY homemaker, spending many summers handling a circular saw and mixing concrete in between sunbathing sessions while building massive and beautiful decks and gardens around her home. Inside, she restored antique furniture, created one-of-a-kind window treatments, retiled, recarpeted, reupholstered, and remodeled just about every room she encountered to give it her signature creative touch. Few things lit her up more than sharing her work with friends as they marveled “you did all of this?” She’d smile and humbly shrug, “yeah.”

From childhood, through college and her teaching career, the common thread in her favorite hobbies always came back to sewing. So it was no surprise that, when she retired and moved to Naples, Florida, she soon began work for sewing machine dealers in southwest Florida, teaching locally and at national dealer conventions, local and regional sewing guilds, and various sewing and quilting shows all over the country.

She was drawn to this “work” as a way to immerse herself in her favorite hobby, to teach and share her talents with others…and the discounts to expand her fabric room and collection of crafting tools were a great perk too. Most importantly, it was about the connections and friendships she made during these years. None of these were dearer to her than the deep friendship she developed with her traveling, teaching, selling, and writing partner, Pam Damour. Together they co-authored a pair of sewing texts, Hold Everything (2017) and Power Serge (2018), and shared more laughs and pints of Graeter’s Ice Cream than either could count.

Quilting always had a special place in Betty’s heart. As a relentlessly inclusive person who always saw the best in others, quilting was a metaphor for life as she could use her skills and love to bring together pieces that might otherwise be discarded into something beautiful and cherished.

In 2009 she relocated to Union, Kentucky to be Grandma to Joseph Bernard, Andrew Wallace, and William Daniel. She reveled in every moment she had with them from school pickups and sleepovers to holiday celebrations and helping to juggle a busy activity calendar. In recent years she beamed with pride when her grandsons would share their musical talents – gifts that did not come from her – or when she’d catch them sharing simple gestures of kindness and thoughtfulness…which very much did come from her and the rest of their loving family.

Betty was preceded in death by her parents, Janet and Joe. She is survived by her sons Josh and Matt, her three grandsons Joe, Drew, and Liam, as well as her sister Mary Hulgrave and family.

From cradle to grave, the other crucially important common thread of Betty’s life was her deep faith and involvement with her local church. In 2014 she became a member of Trinity Episcopal Church in Covington, Kentucky where she developed many beautiful friendships and always jumped to act in service of the parish and the community by serving on Trinity’s Vestry and multiple commissions, and by sewing most banners and vestments for the church.

A Celebration of the Life of Betty Mitchell will be held on November 14, 2026 at 6PM at Trinity Episcopal Church, 326 Madison Avenue, Covington, Kentucky and will be followed by a brief reception at the church. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorials be made to Trinity’s Cathedral Domain Fund. Visit trinitycovington.org/donate and select ‘Annual Parish Retreat at The Domain.’