Elizabeth S. Barrett (nee Sote) passed away at her home in Riverdale on Friday, April 23 after a long battle with lung cancer.
Betty was born in 1943 in the Whitehall section of Dublin, Ireland. She came to New York in 1956 with her family and spent the remainder of her childhood growing up in the Highbridge section of the Bronx. A graduate of the Sacred Heart School and Saint Pius V High School, she worked at Best & Co. alongside her brother and later at International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF). However, her most beloved roles were as a loving and devoted wife to Billy and as a stay-at-home mom to her four children. Billy and Betty raised their family in Inwood before moving to Riverdale in 1997.
Family was the center of Betty’s life, and her greatest joy came from spending time with them over countless dinners and barbecues. Betty loved being at the beach on the Jersey Shore and on Long Island. She loved a good party with live music and an open dance floor as well as getting together with her lifelong “girls” from the Bronx. She especially loved attending sporting events for her children and later her grandchildren. Known affectionately as “Grandma Betty” to both her grandchildren and their friends, she was the biggest fan of her grandchildren, their teammates and friends. They will undoubtedly miss her presence on the sidelines, but her spirit will forever be with them.
Betty was predeceased by her husband William (Billy), her parents John and Elizabeth Sote, her sister Gabrielle Egan, and brothers Fred and John Sote as well as in-laws John Egan and Elizabeth and Lawrence Quinn. Betty is survived by her children Keri Montgomery (Scott), James (Sonia), John (Vanessa), and Kevin (Jennifer) as well as her grandchildren Lauren, Michael, Matthew, William, Emilia, and McKenna. She also leaves behind her sister-in-law Beatrice Sote; nieces Deirdre, Eileen, Heather, and Julianne; nephews John, Peter, and Christopher; and many other extended family members and close friends who will deeply miss her.
Reposing Saturday, May 1 from 4-7pm and Sunday, May 2 from 3-7pm at Riverdale-on-Hudson Funeral Home, 6110 Riverdale Avenue, Bronx, NY. Mass of Christian Burial Monday, May 3 at 9:45am at St. Margaret of Cortona Church. Interment at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne, NY.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations in her honor be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, a cause she supported for many years.