Obituary: Elizabeth “Betsy” Shepard (Brache), 71, of Branford

Obituary courtesy of W.S. Clancy Memorial Funeral Home:

Elizabeth “Betsy” Shepard (Brache) aged 71 of Branford passed away peacefully on Friday, December 9, 2022 at Yale-New Haven Hospital after a sudden illness. She was the much beloved wife of Harvey F. Shepard, Jr for 48 years and mother of Jillian Pelkey (Shepard) of Coventry, CT.

Betsy was born November 19, 1951 in CT, daughter of the late Richard “Dick” Brache and Laura Brache (Swiderski). During her early years, she lived in Hamden, CT as well as at Candlewood Lake in Brookfield, CT (where she had some of her favorite memories), Warwick, RI and finally North Branford, CT.

Betsy and Harvey met while they were teenagers and married shortly after Harvey returned from Vietnam in North Branford, CT on October 12, 1974. They lived in Meriden, CT for the first years of their marriage until they built their cottage-by-the-sea in Branford where they raised Jillian.

Betsy was a homemaker but proudly earned her degree in Interior Design. She was an animal lover and never met a stray cat that she didn’t attempt to rescue or a raccoon family that she didn’t feed (and name) -Lil and her babies enjoyed plates of macaroni and cheese often. Betsy loved traveling to Maine, especially the Mount Desert Island region, but Harvey or Jillian always did the driving as she was afraid to drive on the highway herself. She had a great sense of humor and one of the best laughs in the world.

Besides her husband Harvey and daughter Jillian (Keith) Pelkey, Betsy is survived by her brothers Rich (Susan) Brache of AZ and Gerry (Merrill) Brache of ME; her nephews Rick (Astrid) Brache of AZ, and Merrin Brache of ME; her nieces Kate (Bill Brainerd) Shepard of CT, Cristina (Marco) Camacho of AZ and Emily (Travis Scott) Brache of New York; along with her countless other family and friends.

The family would like to thank the staff of the Neuro-ICU at Yale for their kindness, compassion and dignified care of Betsy in her final moments.

Per Betsy’s wishes, funeral services will be private at the convenience of her family. For online memorial and guestbook, see www.wsclancy.com.