Obituary of Elizabeth Jean Bickford

Elizabeth Jean Bickford “Betty Jean”, passed away peacefully at Mercy Care for the Adirondacks in Tupper Lake, NY on April 16, 2023. Betty Jean was born February 19, 1931 in Malone, NY to Henry and Dora Durant. The family moved to Lake Placid where Henry was a butcher at Macomber Grocery and Dora worked at the Homestead. Betty Jean was a graduate of Lake Placid High School. She met her husband Glen Bickford and they raised their three sons in Keene Valley until the untimely death of her husband, who was a teacher at Keene Central School at the age of 52. Having been a homemaker her married life, she moved the three boys to Lake Placid where she took various jobs while raising the boys as a single mother. She was a very talented seamstress, sewing most of the clothes worn by the family. Betty Jean worked at Razook’s Dress Store on Main Street as a seamstress doing alterations and later as a librarian at the Lake Placid Library for many years. She always spoke so happily of the stories of working at those jobs and how much she loved the friends she made working, as well as friends she made on the Main Street. In her retirement years, Betty Jean spent many hours each day doing what she loved most – knitting hats for babies and toddlers. For a number of years she would pack them up and send them to an orphanage in Philadelphia. She took such pride in picking the colors and coordinating them for boys and girls. Later, she donated the little knitted hats to the Town of North Elba Christmas Fund and St. Agnes Christmas tree. Betty Jean read ferociously and loved listening to books on tape once she discovered that! Her friends at the library would keep her in supply of everything she wanted and we thank them for the joy they brought her. Betty Jean was a lifelong Catholic and member of St. Agnes church. Once she was unable to attend mass, she listened to it on her portable radio every morning at 6:00 am. Betty Jean was predeceased by her husband Glenn and sons David and Michael, as well as an infant baby, Catherine. She is survived by her son Stephen Bickford previously of Scottsdale, AZ and now of Saranac Lake, NY. She is survived by her devoted friend and niece, Judy King of Saranac Lake and many nieces and nephews in the area. A graveside service will take place Thursday, June 15 at 10:00 am at North Elba Cemetery. Rev. John Yonkovig will officiate. The M. B. Clark, Inc., Funeral Home in Lake Placid, NY is in charge of arrangements. Please visit www.mbclarkfuneralhome.com to share a memory, sign the guest book or leave condolences.