CHAZY — Elizabeth J. Trombly died peacefully in the hands of people she loved Thursday, June 26, 2025, at Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital in Plattsburgh.

She was 85 and for the last few decades lived on Shadow Lane in Chazy, next to one of her sons.

She was born Elizabeth Jane Church on May 30, 1940, in Quincy, Massachusetts, to her mother and father, Edith and Wellington. Most knew her as Betty.

She grew up there in the Boston area, first with her parents and later under the care of a foster family. She graduated from nearby Randolph High School in 1958, having spent each year practicing a love of music: She sang in the chorus, played in band concerts and became a lifelong fan of Elvis Presley.  "A roguish grin, a pretty tune; her lucky star will triumph

soon," read an appraisal in her senior yearbook, for which she co-wrote the class prophecy as part of the literary staff. She'd always keep that wry smile.

She chose to stay close to home and took a job as a secretary in a Boston shoe factory. On a night on the town with friends from work, the 18-year-old Betty met Leo E. Trombly, about four years her senior. He was down from upstate New York with his twin brother to study as electricians in a trade school. Soon Betty and Leo — better known in life as Joe — would be

going steady. He asked her to come back with him to New York, and she said yes.

The two were wed and married until 1993. They settled in Chazy, where Betty would watch three generations of her family grow. The couple raised three children in their home on Hyde Road: Pamela, Joe and David.

That home was also where, in the basement, Betty ran a beauty salon after training in cosmetology. She owned and operated Betty's Cut and Curl for over a decade. She later became a cashier, working the registers in Champlain at the former Yankee One Dollar store and then Kinney Drugs.  She took pride in her 20+ years of service and stayed with Kinney until her retirement at 82.

She cared, too, about beauty and style — for others while running her salon and for herself. Rare was the day you wouldn't find her in full makeup under a short brown bouffant, held up with a spritz of hairspray. She gleamed with special pieces of jewelry, rings and bangles and ear piercings and necklaces. She took pride in decking out her home with colorful glassware, seasonal decor and framed family photos. Christmastime saw her turn the house on Shadow Lane into a holiday card cottage. On one of her last days, she was treated to a spa day by her granddaughter — hair, makeup, pedicure — that brought some joy to her brief battle with cancer.

Betty liked crafts and crocheting, frequenting yard sales and making gifts.  She loved to learn about people, something her jobs made easy. Daily conversations with customers who became friends helped her become something of a local oracle: She seemed to know every family in the

county. Those conversations also let her beam, in her never-lost New England accent, about her family.

She helped raise and take care of a granddaughter and two grandsons.  Later, she'd dote on two great-grandchildren. All of them knew her affectionately as Nana. Time with her, whether during a trip up from down south or an evening stop at her kitchen table, meant a chance for jokes, gossip, family tales and guidance.

Betty was predeceased by her mother, father and step-father; brother Russell Church; and former husband Leo E. Trombly.

She is survived by her children, Pamela Cummings and her husband Ted of Augusta, Georgia; Joseph Trombly and his wife Lisa of Edgewater, Florida; David Trombly and his wife Lynn of Chazy; grandchildren, Danielle Slick and her husband Billy of Augusta, Georgia; Justin Trombly of Burlington, Vermont; and Nathan Trombly of Rochester, New York; great-grandchildren Jordan and Niklaus Slick of Augusta, Georgia; sisters, Judy Cushing of Savannah, Georgia, and Janice Gudbrandsen of Maryland; and many nieces and nephews.

A funeral mass will be held on Thursday, July 3, at 11 a.m. at Sacred Heart Church in Chazy, followed by burial in the parish cemetery. Donations in Betty's memory may be made to the Fitzpatrick Cancer Center through the CVPH Medical Center Foundation.

To share a memory or condolence with the family, please visit www.rwwalkerfh.com.

Arrangements have been entrusted to the R.W. Walker Funeral Home and Cremation Service, 69 Court Street, Plattsburgh, NY.