Betty will always be remembered for her smile and brave face even through all her trials and tribulations and most especially after her accident in 1980. Betty was born in Tottenham, London and brought up in a tight knit community. A community that looked out for each other and cared for each other, which is probably why Betty was like that herself. She cared about people and what they did and how they were. She was close to her parents but most especially to her father. At the age of 3, her 7 year old brother, Donald died of diphtheria. It affected Betty even at that early age, but more so her father, Joe who lost his hair overnight. That is probably why she and her father became so close. Betty worked hard and played hard throughout her life! When Betty worked for Formula 1 motor racing in the 50´s she met Sterling Moss, which she always reminded people about! Then in the 60´s she was lucky enough to work for Madame Prunier, the owner of “the” famous French restaurant in London. “Madame” as Betty called her, became a close friend, and attended Betty´s wedding in 1965 to Michele´s father, John. Betty and John divorced when Michele was 13 and Betty brought up Michele alone with the help of boarding school. She ran two large transport cafes and became a strong and capable businesswoman, who was popular with her staff. Even now, Betty is fondly remembered by her manageress of those early years, who has been devastated by the news of Betty´s passing. Betty came to Portugal in 1975 and fell in love with the country and its people. Despite having the car accident here, that caused Betty to become a paraplegic, she still loved Portugal and came to live here permanently in 1989. Even though during the latter years, Betty rarely left the house, she still did not want to leave Portugal and return to the UK. She took great joy from sitting in her bedroom and looking at her colourful garden with all the flowers. Betty was a true animal lover and could not bare cruelty to animals. She strongly supported Michele with her charity “The Hope Fund” and became Poopy´s guardian in 1994, when Michele rescued her as a pup. Poopy, now aged 15, survives Betty and lives with Michele and David. Betty loved her friends and loved to party! Though partying ceased to be a priority for her lately, she still took great pleasure in the few friends that did visit her regularly, like Niki her nurse, and Eve, who gave her Reiki treatment or Rose, who sat and talked, drank tea and reminisced with her. They were all important to her in one way or another. On September 24th 2001, Betty´s only grandaughter, Saskia, was born and became the light of Bettys life. She was an angel in Betty´s eyes and nothing made her happier than to have Saskia around. She loved to watch Saskia swimming in the pool from her bedroom window. Michele believes that during the last week of Betty´s life, Saskia was the one thing that kept Betty tied to this world. Betty was a brave woman with a strong personality, a generous heart and a zest for life. Even though it was her time to go, she leaves a gap that cannot be filled. She will be greatly missed, most especially by Michele, who cared for her for nearly 30 years. Despite the bickering, they dearly loved each other and Michele was pleased to grant Betty´s wish of not going back to hospital after her second stroke. With David´s fantastic support during the last few weeks, Betty died in dignity and at peace, with no pain, in Michele´s arms at 3.25 pm on Wednesday 1st April 2009. There was only one woman, who always looked good, dressed well, made her face up, had her hair done and stood tall even from the confines of her hated wheelchair! There was only one Betty.