SCARBOROUGH – After a year-and-a-half long battle with Alzheimer’s disease, Betty Hays Raby departed in peace on Jan. 24, 2023 at Gosnell Hospice in Scarborough. She was 76.

Betty was born in Summit, N.J., where she grew up, on April 7, 1946. In high school, she played field hockey and worked on the yearbook. During her college years, she sang with the Rutgers University Choir. After receiving a bachelor’s degree in art from Douglass College, she went on to become one of the east coast’s leading makers and installers of window treatments, with business ranging from Maine to Florida. She could tell at a glance whether work was well or poorly done, and from time to time, her creations were featured in decorators’ magazines.

An adventurous spirit, she loved to travel. Over the years, she went to Iceland, northern and eastern Europe, across the U.S. and Canada, to the high Arctic at Svalbard, and to Turkey, Nepal, and Bhutan.

Upon retirement, she and her husband moved to New London, N.H., where she was an active gardener and conservationist. She loved the woods and hiking trails which surrounded her home, and throughout her life, she left the world more beautiful than she found it.

Betty is survived by two John Rabys, husband and son; daughter-in-law, Louisa; grandsons Dexter and Derek; her brother, Paul Hays and his wife Mona, her sister, Charlotte Comisky; nieces Laura Comisky, Zami Raby, and Jennifer Szyfman, nephew, James B. Hays IV; brother-in-law, Anthony; and Rufus, her cat.

A funeral service will be held on Saturday, April 15 at 2 p.m. at Hobbs Funeral Home, 671 U.S. Route 1, Scarborough followed by a reception at the funeral home.

Online condolences may be expressed at http://www.hobbsfuneralhome.com.

Donations in her memory will be welcome at the:

New London Garden Club

c/o Suzanne Hammond

100 Hilltop

New London, NH 03257

and:

Ausbon Sargent Land Preservation Trust

71 Pleasant St.

New London, NH 03257