Betty B. Sculley

Betty Bracken Sculley, 96, a lifelong Norwalk resident, passed away on April 5, 2023 at the Venice, Florida home of her son Richard and his wife Fran, her primary caregivers.

Betty was born in 1926 to Elmer and Ruth Bracken in the same East Norwalk home where she later raised her family. She attended Marvin and Ludlow Schools and graduated from Norwalk High in 1944. Young Betty was an equestrian, canoeist, and competitive AAU swimmer. A Katharine Gibbs graduate, she worked at Look Magazine and her shorthand skills later came in handy for encoding secret Christmas gift lists.

In 1948 Betty married her childhood neighbor, friend and classmate Norman J. Sculley. She devoted the rest of her life to making a happy home for Norm and their four children. She established many precious family traditions and always welcomed the family's numerous visitors. Having lived in the same home for more than seventy years, Betty knew multiple generations of the local families and was a beloved icon in the Marvin Beach neighborhood, where many of the commemorative bricks are dedicated to her and the flags fly today at half-staff in her memory.

To the end of her life, Betty lived for her family. As her own children grew, she took great delight in the next generations of Sculleys. For as long as she could, she hosted beachside summer “Grammy Camp” weeks for her grandchildren. She loved Facebook so that she could see what the rest of the family was up to. Her home was always open to family needing hugs and support. Always a generous heart, Betty took in her widowed father for years. Throughout her sixty-two years with Norm, she supported and nurtured his education, career, and civic involvements. And in the later years, she was his constant caregiver, companion, and advocate, at great personal sacrifice. She lived her last years with the same grace, poise and selflessness that she had always shown.

Betty and Norm enjoyed travel, particularly cruises with friends and trips to Bermuda, Hawaii, Alaska, and Ireland. They co-chaired their fiftieth NHS reunion committee, loving those landline calls from old friends, especially those who had joined the World War II military before graduation.

Betty remained well read, incredibly intuitive and informed throughout her life. Until very recently, she did a crossword every day and complained if there wasn't a newspaper. She was a fierce competitor in bridge and board games and loved to defeat her children. In retirement, she found time to play music, first the organ, then a banjo, and finally the ukulele in her nineties.

Betty is survived by her children John (Mary Martin), Ellen (Robert Paul), Richard (Frances), and David (MaryAnn, Lisa); eight grandchildren Alison Kolani (Basil), Meghan Weaver (Jeffrey), Brian Sculley, Kathleen Sculley (Christopher Richards), Erin Sculley (Paul Jeffe), Ethan Sculley, Jared Sculley, and Tristan Sculley; five great-grandchildren Henry Kolani, William Kolani, James Weaver, Molly Weaver, and Charles Richards, as well as nephews David Cooper, Robert Tolles, Benjamin Tolles, Douglas Tolles, and William Iannaccone, and niece Catherine Iannaccone.

She was predeceased by Norman, by her parents, three sisters Vera, Phyllis, and Ruth, daughter-in-law Mary O'Brien Sculley(John), nephew James Cooper, and sister-in-law Joan Iannaccone and her husband Joseph.

Friends can greet the family for a brief visitation will be held on Thursday, April 13, 2023 from 11:30 to 12:30 at Raymond Funeral Home, 5 East Wall Street in Historic Norwalk. Private interment will follow. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk, https://www.maritimeaquarium.org/donate