Elizabeth Zorn Mettler

Elizabeth (Betty) Zorn Mettler died on December 9, 2022 in Hamden, Connecticut at the age of 92.

Betty was born to Paul Manthey Zorn and Ruth Stephan Zorn in New Haven, Connecticut on September 14, 1930.

After graduating from Hamden High School, she entered Connecticut College but left after two years to raise a family of four children.  No doubt a difficult decision given her commitment to education throughout the rest of her life.  Later, as her children grew up, she went back to college and earned a degree in American History from Quinnipiac College in 1971 and continued to assert her independence and get more involved in the community.

Her commitment to education went well beyond her own.  She was a member of the Hamden Board of Education for 8 years (2 as chairperson), chaired the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education, participated in the Connecticut Adult Probation Education Program (where she earned her teaching certificate), and ran the Thorton Wilder Writing Competition for many years, encouraging teens in high school to develop their writing skills.

She was also active in the League of Women Voters, Visiting Nurses Association, American Field Services, Hamden Youth Services, and various church programs. In 1998, the Connecticut General Assembly issued a Citation recognizing her “contributions to the general good of the community”.   That same year, she was recognized as a Town of Hamden Notable Citizen for her “selfless dedication and commitment in serving her community and helping others”.

Family was the most important thing to Betty.  She encouraged and cherished family gatherings and was determined to be a part of the lives of her grandchildren as much as possible.  Many of these family events took place at her favorite place in the whole world – a cabin on a lake in Becket, Massachusetts.  She loved the outdoors and the simple things in life that Becket afforded:  walks in the woods with her dog, homemade blueberry pie, a game of cards.  To the very end, just the mention of Becket would light up her eyes.

When Betty turned 70, she wrote a letter to herself recognizing it was time to step back from some of her many volunteer commitments and treat herself.  She travelled to Russia, China, Turkey, and South Africa, and took cross country ski trips in Vermont and Yellowstone.  She spent more time hosting family and travelling to visit them.   In that same letter, she wrote “If we have done our job sufficiently in raising our offspring and serving as mentors for the next generation, the world can’t help but improve, however dismal the prospect may seem at a given moment.”

Betty is survived by her four children Linda Bernstein (Andrew Bernstein), Judy Achterhof (Tom Achterhof), Joan McDonagh (Michael McDonagh) and Fred Mettler (Cindy Johnson); her sisters Susan Zorn, and Easter (Bunny) Davidson (Trish Forrest); brother Marshall Davidson (Dawn); and sister-in-law Sally Zorn.  She is also survived by nine grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.  She is predeceased by her brother, Paul Zorn and former husband, Rollin Mettler, Jr.

A service celebrating Betty’s life will be held early in 2023.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Planned Parenthood (https://www.plannedparenthood.org/), League of Women Voters of Connecticut (https://my.lwv.org/connecticut), and The Becket Arts Center (https://www.becketartscenter.org/).