My Mother ~ A Special Woman ~ A Life Remembered
When Elizabeth Barrow "Betty" Haring was born on 29 June 1921, in Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern, Ramapo, Rockland, New York, United States, her father, James Smith Haring III, was 34 and her mother, Marguerite Blanch Requa, was 31. She was the second of four children. Her father had attended Carnegie Mellon University and was a civil engineer. She was named after her great grandmother, Elizabeth Barrow, whose grandfather was the Magistrate of Wedmore in Somerset County, England.
She had the bluest of eyes and blondest of hair. Her father was crazy about her and all would awe at her beauty. Though beautiful on the outside, she had a deep beauty within. She loved those around her and would always go out of her way to make others smile.
Betty loved sweets. She was a playful child, often running her fingers along the middle of a newly baked cake that held Bavarian cream oozing out. She often would recount to her daughter, Carole Elizabeth Nurmi Cummings, just HOW much she loved that vanilla cream that her mother would add between the layers of a cake. Like her mother, who enjoyed chocolate bonbons throughout her life, Betty loved sweets and desserts. She delighted in the tantalizing taste of a delectable sweet. She woud bake hours upon hours whipping up a tasty this or a tempting that. Her theory on calories was the more you eat, the more you walk shopping the carlories off. Many a Satruday. we would spend ten to twelve hours shopping!
Her formative years were spent in Ridgewood, New Jersey, graduating from Ridgewood High School, first in her class of 1939. She worked for New Jersey Bell for several years following high school.
She married John Albert "Al" Nurmi on 16 September 1944, at 38 Fairmount Road, Upper Ridgewood Community Church, Ridgewood in Bergen County, New Jersey. Her husband was a carpenter and builder of residential homes in Saddle River and Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. They were the parents of two sons and one daughter.
She started a family in 1946 and became involved in her children's activities. She was active in the local schools serving as the vice-president of the P. T. A in the Upper Saddle River School. In 1953, she was elected to serve a 3 year term on the Board of Education in Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.
Betty had a love for gardening and for plants. She was the program chairman of the Saddle River Garden Club. She was voted to become president of the Garden Club. She told her daughter she had planted 200 saplings in the back of one of her homes.
In 1953, she worked in real estate with Kenneth Hesse Associates on Paramus Road in Bergen County, New Jersey.
Relocating to Palm Beach County, Florida in 1956, she raised two sons and a daughter. She was a terrific cook and wonderful knitter. She relished complicated patterns of knitting. Nothing was too difficult for her. The little red outfits shown in the additional photos were knitted by her. The twins and their older brother had a different matching set of clothes every day resulting from her acumen with the needle!
For a time, she worked at R.C.A. in West Palm Beach. Active in her community, she hosted a local radio talk show for area socialites at WLIZ in Palm Beach.
She was particularly close with me, her only daughter. When I finished graduate school and moved to the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, Mother decided she would make the move to join my little family there. That move was in 1983. She spent her remaining years in Garland and Plano. We enjoyed seeing her every day. We took cooking classes together at the local high school during the summer months. We went shopping every day. We enjoyed cooking together. We talked. We laughed. We truly loved each other. She had a passion for dancing and would go to Senior Citizen dances almost every night. She loved to travel and to go on an adventure. She wanted all of her grandchildren to have a love of culture and travel. Though on limited income, she sent all three children to Europe. They were able to see Germany, Spain, Portugal and England. When I was 36, she and I went on a 40 day excursion to Europe traveling with a group through 13 countries. What fun we had! I remember when I was young, I was interested in touring the Capitol buildings in all of the states. Little did I know until late in life, that was one thing she was not crazy about. I could spend hours reading about the detail of each structure along with the historical events. What a terrific mother she was to indulge me when I would easily spend eight hours reading every placard and every card.
Mom had a fascinating lineage. She was descendant from the Haring family, who were the original settlers of New Amsterdam and patentees of the Orangeburg Patent, who settled in Manhattan moving to Bergen County, New Jersey and Tappan, New York. Her deep Dutch roots were through her grandfather and mother. Her grandmother, Elizabeth Barrow Wylde, who died giving birth to her her father, was from an aristocratic line in England. She was a direct scion of the Viscount Robert Tracy of Toddington, England. Her ancestors served in both the Revolutionary and Civil Wars. She was also descendant of the Requa family who were amongst the first French Huguenots who settled in New Rochelle, New York in the late 1600s. Her great grandfather was an owner of Glode Requa Coal and Lumber Company in Monsey, New York. James Smith Haring, III, her father - a Civil Engineer, died in June 1965, and her mother Marguerite Blanche Haring, a teacher, died in 1982 at the age of 92.
She was preceded in death by her son Lawrence Albert Nurmi, an Electrical Engineer, of Wellington, Florida on March 17, 1998, by her husband John Albert Nurmi on July 8, 1987, and by her two brothers, James Smith Haring IV and Robert Tracy Haring. Her husband was a renowned builder in the Upper Saddle River area of New Jersey.
Betty was buried in the Brick Church Cemetery in Rockland County New York next to her mother and three siblings.
She was a wonderful, wonderful mother and I will miss you dearly until I can one day see her in Heaven.
With much love mom. I will never forget you calling me the "best little girl ever" up to the time you died. I wanted to always make you happy and to serve ya Mom. I always did.
With all of my love,
Betty's daughter, Carole Elizabeth Nurmi Cummings
My Mother ~ A Special Woman ~ A Life Remembered
When Elizabeth Barrow "Betty" Haring was born on 29 June 1921, in Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern, Ramapo, Rockland, New York, United States, her father, James Smith Haring III, was 34 and her mother, Marguerite Blanch Requa, was 31. She was the second of four children. Her father had attended Carnegie Mellon University and was a civil engineer. She was named after her great grandmother, Elizabeth Barrow, whose grandfather was the Magistrate of Wedmore in Somerset County, England.
She had the bluest of eyes and blondest of hair. Her father was crazy about her and all would awe at her beauty. Though beautiful on the outside, she had a deep beauty within. She loved those around her and would always go out of her way to make others smile.
Betty loved sweets. She was a playful child, often running her fingers along the middle of a newly baked cake that held Bavarian cream oozing out. She often would recount to her daughter, Carole Elizabeth Nurmi Cummings, just HOW much she loved that vanilla cream that her mother would add between the layers of a cake. Like her mother, who enjoyed chocolate bonbons throughout her life, Betty loved sweets and desserts. She delighted in the tantalizing taste of a delectable sweet. She woud bake hours upon hours whipping up a tasty this or a tempting that. Her theory on calories was the more you eat, the more you walk shopping the carlories off. Many a Satruday. we would spend ten to twelve hours shopping!
Her formative years were spent in Ridgewood, New Jersey, graduating from Ridgewood High School, first in her class of 1939. She worked for New Jersey Bell for several years following high school.
She married John Albert "Al" Nurmi on 16 September 1944, at 38 Fairmount Road, Upper Ridgewood Community Church, Ridgewood in Bergen County, New Jersey. Her husband was a carpenter and builder of residential homes in Saddle River and Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. They were the parents of two sons and one daughter.
She started a family in 1946 and became involved in her children's activities. She was active in the local schools serving as the vice-president of the P. T. A in the Upper Saddle River School. In 1953, she was elected to serve a 3 year term on the Board of Education in Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.
Betty had a love for gardening and for plants. She was the program chairman of the Saddle River Garden Club. She was voted to become president of the Garden Club. She told her daughter she had planted 200 saplings in the back of one of her homes.
In 1953, she worked in real estate with Kenneth Hesse Associates on Paramus Road in Bergen County, New Jersey.
Relocating to Palm Beach County, Florida in 1956, she raised two sons and a daughter. She was a terrific cook and wonderful knitter. She relished complicated patterns of knitting. Nothing was too difficult for her. The little red outfits shown in the additional photos were knitted by her. The twins and their older brother had a different matching set of clothes every day resulting from her acumen with the needle!
For a time, she worked at R.C.A. in West Palm Beach. Active in her community, she hosted a local radio talk show for area socialites at WLIZ in Palm Beach.
She was particularly close with me, her only daughter. When I finished graduate school and moved to the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, Mother decided she would make the move to join my little family there. That move was in 1983. She spent her remaining years in Garland and Plano. We enjoyed seeing her every day. We took cooking classes together at the local high school during the summer months. We went shopping every day. We enjoyed cooking together. We talked. We laughed. We truly loved each other. She had a passion for dancing and would go to Senior Citizen dances almost every night. She loved to travel and to go on an adventure. She wanted all of her grandchildren to have a love of culture and travel. Though on limited income, she sent all three children to Europe. They were able to see Germany, Spain, Portugal and England. When I was 36, she and I went on a 40 day excursion to Europe traveling with a group through 13 countries. What fun we had! I remember when I was young, I was interested in touring the Capitol buildings in all of the states. Little did I know until late in life, that was one thing she was not crazy about. I could spend hours reading about the detail of each structure along with the historical events. What a terrific mother she was to indulge me when I would easily spend eight hours reading every placard and every card.
Mom had a fascinating lineage. She was descendant from the Haring family, who were the original settlers of New Amsterdam and patentees of the Orangeburg Patent, who settled in Manhattan moving to Bergen County, New Jersey and Tappan, New York. Her deep Dutch roots were through her grandfather and mother. Her grandmother, Elizabeth Barrow Wylde, who died giving birth to her her father, was from an aristocratic line in England. She was a direct scion of the Viscount Robert Tracy of Toddington, England. Her ancestors served in both the Revolutionary and Civil Wars. She was also descendant of the Requa family who were amongst the first French Huguenots who settled in New Rochelle, New York in the late 1600s. Her great grandfather was an owner of Glode Requa Coal and Lumber Company in Monsey, New York. James Smith Haring, III, her father - a Civil Engineer, died in June 1965, and her mother Marguerite Blanche Haring, a teacher, died in 1982 at the age of 92.
She was preceded in death by her son Lawrence Albert Nurmi, an Electrical Engineer, of Wellington, Florida on March 17, 1998, by her husband John Albert Nurmi on July 8, 1987, and by her two brothers, James Smith Haring IV and Robert Tracy Haring. Her husband was a renowned builder in the Upper Saddle River area of New Jersey.
Betty was buried in the Brick Church Cemetery in Rockland County New York next to her mother and three siblings.
She was a wonderful, wonderful mother and I will miss you dearly until I can one day see her in Heaven.
With much love mom. I will never forget you calling me the "best little girl ever" up to the time you died. I wanted to always make you happy and to serve ya Mom. I always did.
With all of my love,
Betty's daughter, Carole Elizabeth Nurmi Cummings
