Elizabeth Tapley Hoyt

NORTH CONWAY — Elizabeth “Betty” Tapley Hoyt passed away peacefully on Feb. 21, 2020, leaving behind her children, Lindsay (Cynthia) of Jackson, William (Dorothy) of North Haven, Connecticut, and Tiffany of Washington, D.C.; her grandchildren, Charlie, Amelia, Hillary, Olivia, Ishaan, and Eben; and her brother, George M. Tapley Jr. (Jan) of Fullerton, California.

She was born in Washington, D.C. Her parents were George Manning Tapley of Haverhill, Massachusetts, and Anne Halliday Tapley of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Her father worked as a civil engineer, designing roads, dams, and bridges for the U.S. Government, and took their family to Washington, D.C., New Mexico, Burma (Myanmar), and the territory of Alaska.

Betty attended Mills College in Oakland, California, and graduated from the University of Colorado in Boulder in 1953, with a bachelor of fine arts degree.

She met her husband of 61 years, Charles L. Hoyt of Haverhill, on Governors Island in Gilford.

Betty thrived on competition and adventure. At 11, she placed second in the national spelling bee championships. At 16, she was a William Randolph Hearst Small Bore champion and achieved her “Distinguished” marksmanship medal, as well as being co-captain of the Juneau (Alaska) High School ski team. At 25, she and her husband built a ski camp in Jackson, the year Wildcat Ski Area began operating, and where she continued skiing for most of her life. In her 30s, she resumed tennis and competed all over New England. In her 50s, she earned her helicopter pilots license. In later years, she returned to golf and became a member of the Laconia Country Club in New Hampshire and Grey Oaks Country Club in Naples, Florida, where she shot two holes-in-one. She played a keen game of bridge throughout her life.

Betty founded Hoyt Gloves, a company that manufactured gardening gloves and sold them worldwide.

She was a member of the North Naples United Methodist Church, and a member and treasurer of the Atkinson Garden Club where she organized numerous garden club flower shows. She belonged to the Papyrus Club of Haverhill; was a two-term president of the Governors Island Club; and fundraised for both the Children’s Aid and Family Society and UNICEF.

In the final years of her life, even though Betty was partially disabled, she still traveled, read books, and lived life with cheer and purpose.

Friends are invited to attend calling hours on Tuesday, March 10, from 3 to 5 p.m. at Dole, Childs & Shaw Funeral Home, 148 Main St., Haverhill, Massachusetts.

Messages of condolence may be sent to www.dcsfuneralhome.com.