Obituary for Pauline Leister Betsh
Pauline Leister Betsh, 99, passed away peacefully from heart failure Saturday morning, April 15, 2023, in her Highlands independent-living apartment with her husband of 68 years, Ken, at her side. They had met in Baltimore, married, and lived there several years before Ken’s career as an electrical engineer took them living for a few years each in Pittsburgh, Orlando, and Chicago, and then finally in the Reading, Pennsylvania, area in 1972 where they decided to remain after retirement in 1995.
Polly, as she preferred to be called, and Ken never had children but kept in close contact with younger relatives in Maryland and Ohio even after her and his parents and siblings passed away.
Polly was born in Canton, Ohio, as the eldest daughter of Benjamin Payne Leister (1875-1937) and Mathilde (Neisel) Leister (1892-1977) with the family moving to Westminster, Maryland, before she started school. Her father’s early death forced her to work full-time after graduating from Westminster High School and use an art scholarship at night schools in Baltimore. She also started a part-time college degree program before her marriage that years later concluded with a degree from Roosevelt University in Chicago. During much of her adult life she worked as a secretary or office manager - ending with KBI in Reading.
It was a common interest in traditional classical music that brought her and Ken together as part of the volunteers operating the Baltimore Junior College FM radio station (WBJC) evenings playing classical music from their own collection of LPs. After moving to Reading, they immediately became season subscribers to all the Reading Symphony Orchestra concerts and supported the chamber music series. Polly also was active with the Berks Grand Opera organization. Her other interests were oil-painting and gardening – leading to a large collection of orchids and bonsai plants that had to be severely compressed before moving to the Highlands almost ten years ago.
Polly and Ken were able to enjoy domestic and international traveling, including visiting and staying in touch with friends made in Denmark, Germany, and Australia.
Polly’s firm wish was that there would be no conventional funeral or memorial service and that her ashes be saved for burial, when the time comes, with those of her husband at the Betsh family gravesite in Northern Ohio.
Edward J. Kuhn Funeral Home, Inc., West Reading is in charge of arrangements. Online condolences may be expressed at www.kuhnfuneralhomes.com.
Polly, as she preferred to be called, and Ken never had children but kept in close contact with younger relatives in Maryland and Ohio even after her and his parents and siblings passed away.
Polly was born in Canton, Ohio, as the eldest daughter of Benjamin Payne Leister (1875-1937) and Mathilde (Neisel) Leister (1892-1977) with the family moving to Westminster, Maryland, before she started school. Her father’s early death forced her to work full-time after graduating from Westminster High School and use an art scholarship at night schools in Baltimore. She also started a part-time college degree program before her marriage that years later concluded with a degree from Roosevelt University in Chicago. During much of her adult life she worked as a secretary or office manager - ending with KBI in Reading.
It was a common interest in traditional classical music that brought her and Ken together as part of the volunteers operating the Baltimore Junior College FM radio station (WBJC) evenings playing classical music from their own collection of LPs. After moving to Reading, they immediately became season subscribers to all the Reading Symphony Orchestra concerts and supported the chamber music series. Polly also was active with the Berks Grand Opera organization. Her other interests were oil-painting and gardening – leading to a large collection of orchids and bonsai plants that had to be severely compressed before moving to the Highlands almost ten years ago.
Polly and Ken were able to enjoy domestic and international traveling, including visiting and staying in touch with friends made in Denmark, Germany, and Australia.
Polly’s firm wish was that there would be no conventional funeral or memorial service and that her ashes be saved for burial, when the time comes, with those of her husband at the Betsh family gravesite in Northern Ohio.
Edward J. Kuhn Funeral Home, Inc., West Reading is in charge of arrangements. Online condolences may be expressed at www.kuhnfuneralhomes.com.