of Chelsea, MI, formerly Ann Arbor, MI, age 99, passed away Friday, January 5, 2018 at the Chelsea Retirement Community. She was born July 19, 1918 in Ames, Iowa, the daughter of Frank & Florence (Wilcox) Jessup, and grew up on a farm near Adrian, Michigan. Betty was a retired educator, living at the Chelsea Retirement Community. Her undergraduate degree was from Eastern Michigan University. After Pearl Harbor, she volunteered for the Red Cross and was stationed in London during some of the perilous times of World War II. She and her husband Samuel N. Damren married after the war and moved to Ann Arbor. She received graduate degrees from the University of Michigan and worked at the University's Children's Psychiatric Hospital and the Ann Arbor Public Schools as a reading specialist during her career. She was a long-time volunteer with Arbor Hospice and Friends in Need.

Survivors include her son, Sam (Jane) Damren of Grosse Pointe; 3 grandchildren, Samantha (Steven Stanton) Damren of Ann Arbor, Nathaniel Damren of New York City, Todd (Caroline) Damren of Washington, DC; two great-grandchildren, Naomi & Alastair Stanton.  She was preceded in death by her husband, Samuel.

A memorial service will be held Saturday, January 27, 2:00 pm at the Towsley Chapel at Chelsea Retirement Community. Memorial contributions may be made to Chelsea Retirement Community Foundation, 805 West Middle Street, Chelsea, MI 48118. 

Click here to view or sign Betty's online guestbook.