Elizabeth A. O'Maley Obituary

Elizabeth 'Betty" Ann O'Maley passed away peacefully surrounded by loved ones on April 9, 2024, at Beverly Hospital. She was born on November 18, 1930 "on the kitchen table," as she was fond of saying, at her family home in Lanesville. Elizabeth was the daughter of Ida (Korkatti) Donovan and Edward Donovan. Although her family was poor during her younger years, she was fortunate to have grown up in an idyllic setting at the end of Norseman Ave on Ipswich Bay in a tight-knit Finnish enclave rich in culture and community. Elizabeth had many memories and stories to share that were unique to that era. She recalled secret meetings held on her street and told of the time that her Finnish mother was taken in for questioning by the FBI for three days to determine if she was a spy communicating with German U-boats in the bay. (She was not.) They had no indoor plumbing, so she and her family walked to Bay View to her Finnish grandparent's homestead, a dairy farm, to sauna every week. This was a tradition that Elizabeth continued to enjoy with her daughter at Vieno's sauna in Lane's Cove for many years. She loved Lanesville in the summer, a self-contained village in many ways back then.

Elizabeth spent many a summer day sunbathing and swimming off the rocks and at the beach and quarries with her friends, blueberrying in the woods, and as a teen, working at her father's lobster pool/fish market on Bearskin Neck. Elizabeth recalled the skinny-dipping rules with humor: The boys' area was on one side of the quarry with the girls on the opposite side. The boys would tease the girls by calling out that they were coming over, prompting loud shrieks of protest from the girls side, a scenario that was repeated throughout the summer. Her parents hosted many neighborhood cook-outs and lobster bakes in their large backyard that sloped down to the rocky beach below. Elizabeth was a graceful skater and her memories of winter included quarry skating parties with bonfires for warming up as well as many social gatherings, especially at Christmas.

Elizabeth attended Lane's School, Central Grammar, and Gloucester High School. Following graduation, she worked as an operator at Bell Telephone on Elm Street in Gloucester. While raising her children in Pigeon Cove, Elizabeth worked part-time at a variety of jobs including the Country Store on Bearskin Neck for the Swansons, the Rockport Teen Center at the Old Firehouse Trust building, and Brown's Department Store, then later returned to work full-time at New England Telephone in North Andover until her retirement. Warm and out-going with a great sense of humor, she collected many friends along the way and treasured staying in touch with them over the years.

Elizabeth's family benefited from her creativity including her beautiful Irish and Nordic ski sweaters, scarves, and puppet mittens. She sewed her daughter's clothes including Easter outfits and loved creating Halloween costumes that often won prizes at the Pigeon Cove School's Halloween parties. Elizabeth's mother, a Boston Cooking School graduate, taught her to cook and she loved preparing meals and baking for her family. Her hand-written recipes for nisu, pannukakku, cakes and cookies, custard, seafood, and everything blueberry will be dearly treasured. Her gardens on Phillips Ave were beautiful with a sea of orange poppies, backlit by the morning sun, along the stone wall at Memorial Day and something always blooming from early spring until the last of the fall chrysanthemums. Elizabeth was an involved parent and enthusiastically volunteered in activities such as leading Brownie and Girl Scout troops and supporting her son's musical interests. She piled kids in her car packed with lunches and lemonade to go swimming, often meeting up with her sister's family, every summer day that wasn't spent on the boat, deciding whether Folly Cove, Plum Cove, or Wingaersheek would be best, depending on the tide and wind. The sandy and sunburned kids were then taken for a dip in a quarry to rinse off. Later on in life, when Elizabeth became a grandmother, she poured the same energy and love into her grandchildren and was so proud of both of them.

Elizabeth's love of the outdoors prompted her to buy a vacation cottage in New Hampshire in the 80's and she enjoyed many years there with her "favorite boyfriend" of 46 years, John Smith, in the White Mountain area exploring, antiquing, cross-country skiing with her daughter, watching her grandchildren learn to ski at Black Mountain, and just enjoying nature from her deck on the Bear Camp River. She had an adventurous spirit and she and her daughter went on many road trips together, without an itinerary, to Nova Scotia, Quebec, PEI, and Ireland, once ending up in Montreal while looking for snow in New Hampshire. She was a regular at the fairs and events held at Spiran Lodge, never missing an opportunity to catch up with old friends over coffee and nisu, and last attended on the summer solstice. Elizabeth loved watching her granddaughters dance in costume at the solstice festivities there. Her son, David, has fond memories of weekly rides with his mother and John for coffee or lunch followed by birding at Eastern Point and he will miss his nightly conversations with her.

Elizabeth possessed a youthful outlook and enthusiasm for life. She overcame breast and uterine cancer in the 90's and several other major life difficulties. Although her final months were very challenging, she never lost hope. Elizabeth rallied after every setback, optimistically displaying a courage and persistence that can only be attributed to sisu, perhaps with an Irish twist. She will be dearly missed but those left behind will take comfort in knowing that she truly had a very rich life, filled with love, and she lived it on her own terms until the very end.

Elizabeth is survived by her son, David O'Maley, her daughter, Jane O'Maley, her grandchildren, Masso Beauvais and Shayne Beauvais, as well as her life partner, John Smith, his son, Todd Smith, and his grandson, Zander Smith. She also leaves her cousins Nikki Korkatti (George Wallace), Christine White, John Korkatti, and Dennis Powers as well as a niece, Eileen Schofield, and nephews, Tim Sullivan, Dan Sullivan, Mike Sullivan, Bob Donovan, Peter Schofield, and Michael Schofield. She will be missed by many dear friends, including Ruth Sullivan, Muriel Lovasco, and the "Kielinen girls". Elizabeth was predeceased by her sister, Ruth Sullivan (John) and brothers, Bob Donovan (Eleanor) and Bill Donovan in addition to her aunt, Linda Powers (Teddy), and uncles, Nick Korkatti (Elenore) and Teddy Korkatti. She was also predeceased by her dear lifelong friends, Catherine McKay, "Nugget" Filfalt, and Marie Hill.

The family would like to thank the staff at the Addison Gilbert Hospital ER, Beverly Hospital, Lahey Burlington, and Seacoast as well as a very special home-care nurse, Vickie Walton, for caring for Elizabeth.

All are welcome to attend a service for Elizabeth that will be held at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Lanesville on Thursday, April 18, at 11:00 a.m. The burial will be private. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to the Open Door or the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI Cape Ann) in Elizabeth's memory.

Arrangements by Greely Funeral Home, 212 Washington Street, Gloucester, MA 01930.