Elizabeth 'Betsy' Harper

Elizabeth “Betsy” Harper, 87, of Rindge, NH, passed away peacefully on July 21, 2024. Betsy was born Elizabeth Ann Riederer in Brooklyn, NY, in 1937, but grew up in Westfield, NJ, and graduated from Westfield High School. She was the daughter of William L. and Helen M. Riederer. Her sister-in-law describes her as “a lot of fun and the life of the party” in high school. She graduated from Allegheny College in Pennsylvania with a degree in sociology. She was a resident of Acton, MA, for many years, after living in Ithaca, NY and Midland, MI with her first husband. She and her husband, Bill Harper, acquired land in Rindge in the early 1980s, cleared land, and built a homestead there.

Betsy worked in accounting at Digital Equipment Corporation in Maynard and Westminster, MA for many years. After retirement, she ran her own tax-preparation business from home in Rindge. She also did book-keeping and bill-paying for seniors in the Rindge area, and for Bill’s carpentry and fire extinguisher businesses. She was smart and generous, charging a very reasonable fee and providing excellent financial advice to her clients, and supporting many charities in her later years.

Betsy had a lifelong love of animals and began horseback riding as a teenager. She and Bill built their house in Rindge partly so she could have horses. Once the barn was built, she always had 2 or 3 horses. She loved trail-riding and dabbled in harness horses, owning a Belgian and several retired harness-racing horses over the years, teaching herself to drive a horse-drawn cart and sleigh. Betsy always had several dogs and cats for all her adult life, and had a couple of guinea pigs and lop rabbits at different times as well.

Betsy had many other interests. She was an avid reader; volunteering at the Ingalls Memorial Library in Rindge was an important part of her life for many years. She loved doing any handiwork involving a needle, and was an accomplished fiber artist, constantly challenging herself with new variations and styles of needlework. She made many of her daughter’s clothes throughout the years, even prom gowns. She created beautiful works of needlepoint, including dozens of Christmas ornaments that she gave away as gifts every year. Her house in Rindge still has many framed samplers and other needlework as well as crocheted and knitted afghans, throws and blankets.

Her husband Bill had a large garden and Betsy canned, pickled and froze produce to last the winters. She and Bill raised pigs for several years, providing friends and family with fresh pork, and relieving local grocery stores and restaurants of unsold baked goods and produce. All this was done while watching baseball on TV – she was an avid fan, first of the Detroit Tigers with her mother, then switched her allegiance to the Boston Red Sox, eventually keeping score at home for every game.

In the 1990s, Betsy and Bill rented a camper and fell in love with the camper life. They bought a Class C camper, eventually upgrading to a Class A motor home, taking trips all over the East Coast to sightsee and spend time with friends and family, staying in touch with camping friends for years after she was no longer able to travel comfortably. She leaves behind detailed daily travel logs, and thousands of photos of their trips.

Betsy is survived by her daughter Amber Dewey, of Rindge; her sister Catherine (Kitzi) Benner of St. George, ME; and her granddaughter Holly Sverdrup-Hoyer and grandson-in-law Jesse, of Fitchburg, MA.

She was pre-deceased by her husband Bill Harper, her sister Amber Tetlow, her son Philip Morgan Dewey, and her first husband, Philip Dewey.

Betsy’s family would like to thank neighbors in the Rindge area who watched over Betsy as her dementia set in, Home Health and Hospice of Nashua, Bridges By Epoch, and Derry Rehabilitation and Nursing Center. Your communities helped make her last years peaceful and happy, and her family is forever grateful.

Betsy will be interred at the Cathedral of the Pines in Rindge, next to Bill, on Sunday, July 20, 2025, at 11:00AM, at the Cathedral of the Pines, located at 10 Hale Hill Rd, Rindge, NH 03461.

In lieu of flowers, please make donations to Ingalls Memorial Library, PO Box 224, Rindge, NH, 03461.