Elizabeth Jane Otto Cranshaw

Elizabeth Jane Otto Cranshaw, called Betty, a longtime resident of Equinox Village in Manchester Center, VT died peacefully in her home Tuesday, June 28, 2016. Complications from pneumonia led to a gradual decline and her eventual death.Betty Cranshaw was born November 14, 1924 in Atlanta, NY, an only child, to Joseph Austin Otto and Alice Rowe Otto. After graduating with Valedictorian honors from North Cohocton Academy, she attended Syracuse University, where she majored in Home Economics and Design, graduating in 1945. Betty taught high school Home Economics for two years in South Otselic, NY and Mexico, NY before she married her college sweetheart, Robert Wylie Cranshaw on July 21, 1948. Their marriage was an especially close union and partnership for over 64 years until his death in December 2012. Their lives and Robert's career took them first to Chicago, IL then Lancaster, PA with Armstrong Cork Co., and on to Fayetteville, NY and Des Moines, IA with Vega Industries. Betty was a creative homemaker and dedicated mother who styled lovely homes wherever the family dwelled. In later years, as children left the nest, she also worked independently as an Interior Designer. One of her lifelong dreams was to live in a historic home in Vermont. Betty loved the quiet charms of country living. She found that home and community in Weston, VT where she and her husband happily joined in the town's many volunteer activities upon retirement. Betty dedicated her talents to the Weston Historical Society, the Farrar Mansur House, the Green Mountain Gardeners, the Weston Women's Club and the Old Parish Church. She was an avid gardener and loved to work in the gardens at their beautiful home on Boynton Rd. in Weston.Betty Cranshaw is survived by three children, Susan Elizabeth Cranshaw and husband, Patrick John Dattore, of Wimberley, TX, David Wylie Cranshaw of Atlanta, GA, his wife Jane Farrar Cranshaw and their sons, John and Matthew, William Otto Cranshaw of Simsbury, CT, his wife Melanie Becton Cranshaw and their daughters, Emily and Shelby. There will be a Memorial Service celebrating Betty's life at 3pm on Saturday, July 23rd at Equinox Village, 49 Maple Street, Manchester Center, VT. Bequests may be made in honor of Elizabeth Otto Cranshaw to the Weston Historical Society P.O. Box 247, Weston, VT 05161. There will be a Memorial Service celebrating Betty's life at 3pm on Saturday, July 23rd at Equinox Village, 49 Maple Street, Manchester Center, VT.