Sharon Rose Betsworth

Quietly, the last of the McDonald sisters from Greenwood, BC passed away on February 25, 2022, of natural causes. Sherry was born in Greenwood on August 22, 1938; she was the second daughter of Rose (nee Bombini) and Joe McDonald, who both came from families with solid ties to Greenwood and the surrounding long-lost west Kootenay towns of Eholt and Phoenix.

Sherry and older sister Lila were only a year apart in age and their formative years were spent in Greenwood, heralded as ‘the smallest incorporated city in Canada’. The McDonald family grew with the additions of Jill and Joey, and the family moved to Penticton in the 1940’s, where the kids became teens and firm roots were established at 202 Windsor Avenue.

Sherry graduated from high school and moved to Vancouver, where she met and married Charles (Chuck) Betsworth, who had spent perilous time in the latter WW2 years as a mariner on merchant vessels and continued in the transportation field as a truck driver. Sherry worked as a BC Tel operator for many years, winning ‘operator of the month’ more than once!

 Sherry preferred to live a quiet life and the couple never had children. In retirement, Sherry and Chuck moved to the Island and had a house built at Nanoose Bay. Gardening and camping in their travel trailer occupied a lot of their time. While the three sisters often lived far apart from one another, there was always love and laughter when they got together.

Sherry had a very odd fear: butterflies. This was said to have originated from one landing on her nose as a youngster, and this fear never left her. It caused obvious issues in the garden! She would alternate between tending to flowers and running headlong (usually screaming) into the house for cover whenever one flitted by. The comforting presence of her cat Thomas was not enough to allay her fears.

Sherry was predeceased tragically by brother Joey in a car accident in 1964, husband Chuck in 2000, sadly her youngest sister Jill in 2009, and older sister Lila quite recently in 2021. She leaves behind nieces Vendela and Shelagh, and nephews Lane, Chris (Jill), Brad and Ted (Lila), as well as many other family members throughout BC.

While Sherry’s last years were spent in complex care in Qualicum Beach, she never forgot many of the people and events of her early life; she could even still quote her great grandmother, Mama Gra, at length (swearing included)! Rest in peace Sherry….

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