Elizabeth Dalton

Elizabeth Lindsay Dalton, of Newark, DE, passed away peacefully on September 8, 2023.

The only child of Mildred Jenness Lindsay and William J. Lindsay, Elizabeth was born in 1925 at the Homeopathic Hospital in Wilmington, Delaware.  They named their beautiful little girl Elizabeth Anne.  Elizabeth was soon shortened to Betty, which she preferred to be called.  Betty grew up in what is now known as the Trolley Square area in Wilmington.  As a child, she and her friends played on the lawn, near the B&O railroad overpass, where the Acme Market now stands.

When Betty was sixteen, the family moved to Hilltop Manor in North Wilmington.  Before Betty was born, her mother worked for Atlas and her father worked for DuPont.  William then joined our forces in the 1^st World War.  When he returned from the war, he went to work for Jessup Paper Company until 1928, when the Great Depression hit.  He was out of a job for a short time, finally returning to the DuPont Company (Chambers Works) until his retirement.

Betty went to P.S. #13 & #27 Elementary Schools in Wilmington, then to Warner Jr. High and P.S. DuPont High School.  She attended Cornell University, graduating in 1947.  Her favorite teachers were her gym teachers.  Sports were always very important to her; softball (she was the catcher), basketball and then later, tennis and golf.

In 1943, while Betty was in high school, representatives from the Hercules Company visited her school to recruit female Chemistry majors; she worked there until she left to go to Cornell.  While at Cornell, Betty worked during summers at the DuPont Chambers Works.  The DuPont Company had its own ferry over to New Jersey; after leaving the ferry, you still had about a mile to walk to get to the buildings.

After college, Betty went to work for Hercules until retiring in 1973 (taking a deferred pension).  However, she went back part-time until 1978, when she officially retired as an outside contractor in 1980.

In 1960 she met Clyde Jackson Dalton at Hercules. Clyde was married at the time with one sone (age four), when his wife tragically died in childbirth.  Fortunately, the child survived.  Four years later, Betty and Clyde were married.  The wedding took place at St. Paul’s Methodist Church on Foulk Road.  The church had recently been built.  It had been located in Wilmington but was torn down to make way for I-95.  Theirs was the first wedding performed at the new church.  When they arrived, the minister announced that the organ was not working so he gave it a good kick.  Betty thought that they would have to hum all the way down the aisle, but it worked after all!  The other amusing thing to happen was that Clyde tripped over the new carpet that was still rolled up.  He managed not to fall, and the wedding went on as planned.  It was a fairly large wedding with the reception at the Hercules Country Club.

Sadly, Betty lost her mother in 1967 and her dad in 1970.

Betty’s mother was an only child and her grandmother was an only child, as was Betty.  Her grandfather had two sisters and her father had three brothers.  Betty and Clyde did not have children together but fortunately they were blessed with Clyde’s son, Ronald Clyde Dalton, who came to live with them when they were married.

The family once had a Chesapeake Bay retriever named Rusty.  They got Rusty because Clyde was a hunter, but Rusty had arthritis and hip dysplasia and couldn’t stand the cold, so he became Betty’s dog.

In 1971, they built a house in Avalon, NJ, on the second block from the ocean.  All their summers were spent there until 1996.

On December 26, 1991, Clyde passed away.  Betty lost her best friend and soul mate after twenty-seven years of marriage.

Betty’s step-son, Ronald, now lives in West Virginia, where his dad grew up.  He is married and has two step-children, William Fieldhouse and Dia Fieldhouse. William is married and has one daughter named Ashley. Betty had been down to West Virginia to visit several times, but Ronald had not been back to Delaware since losing his dad.  They kept in touch by telephone often.

Betty loved all the wrong kinds of food (her words), steak, spaghetti, subs, etc.  She loved the color blue, sports shows on TV, the old Crab trap in Newark, and Capers & Lemons Restaurant.  She collected elephants for years and finally had to ask friends not to give her anymore! She belonged to the Cornell Club of Delaware (no longer in existence), the Delaware Women’s Golf Association and the Wilmington Women’s Bowling Association.  She was a past officer of all three.

She lived by the motto “Do unto others”, etc. and to be helpful whenever you can. She valued most “just being alive”, her far away family and her dear friends.  Friends such as: Kay Reynolds, Barbara Dowling, and Bonnie Steller to name a few.  Then there is Cecelia.  She and Cecelia met in junior high.  Cecelia went to Syracuse for her first year of college then transferred to Cornell where they graduated together in 1947.  Cecilia and her husband, Rodney Fletcher, live in Columbia, MD.  Betty spent every holiday with them and is Godmother to their daughter, Laura.

Betty said her ambition was to live until the year 2000 and she certainly surpassed that.  She was still driving and was the designated driver among her friends.  Betty was still living alone because she was an independent woman who was a little feisty and fun loving. She can’t wait to be back with her friends for a game or two of bridge.