At 105, Betty Fosdick Looks Forward To Her Third Century

BY STEVE BIGHAM

Betty Fosdick says birthdays are becoming a habit for her. On Tuesday, November 16, the longtime Newtown resident will indulge in that habit for the 105th time.

Mrs Fosdick, a former resident of Boggs Hill Road, recently spoke with The Bee about her long life, her beloved husband Raymond, and the prospect of being alive in three centuries.

She was born Elizabeth Miner in a small town near Buffalo, NY on November 16, 1894, and, after losing her mother at age 11, moved to New York City with her father at 16. It was there that she met her husband, Raymond Fosdick, the League of Nation’s first undersecretary and president of the Rockefeller Foundation. The couple married in 1936. She was 42 at the time, and he was 53. Soon after, they purchased their “farm” on Boggs Hill Road which, at first, they used solely as a weekend home. They moved to Newtown permanently in 1966. In those days, Boggs Hill Road was all dirt and the cars that passed were few and far between.

“Back then it was really, really country. There were about 3,000 residents. Now many more,” she recalled. “I loved the country. We always spoke of living on a farm. Of course, it wasn’t a farm, but there were lots of wooded areas and I enjoyed gardening.”

She left Newtown in 1986 and has never returned.

“When you love a place like that, you don’t want to go back. When you have to leave due to age, you won’t want to go back,” she said.

These days, Mrs Fosdick relaxes at the Duncaster Retirement Community in Bloomfield where she is hailed as the facility’s all-time oldest resident. Although her eyesight has failed, she remains active and enjoys listening to books on tape. She claims to be feeling quite well and shows no signs of slowing down.

Mr Fosdick, who died in 1972, was trained as a lawyer and became known as a graft-buster and reformer in his years as commissioner of investigations under New York City mayor George B. McClellan. During this time he met millionaire mogul John D. Rockefeller, Jr, in whose service he spent most of his life. He was the author of 14 books, including Chronicle of a Generation, and was the recipient of many honorary degrees and awards. Mr Fosdick was also close friends with President Woodrow Wilson, and had the distinction of being the first-ever police commissioner of New York City.

Mrs Fosdick was his second wife.

Newtown resident Al Goodrich remembers the Fosdicks, who lived next door. In those days, Mr Fosdick spent much of his time writing books about his life and career. She gardened and was a lover of classical music. Both enjoyed genealogy. After her husband died, Mrs Fosdick remained in Newtown for another 14 years.

“I remember she was 85 when she tried to ride a bike. She fell right off. I don’t know how her bones didn’t break,” Mr Goodrich recalled.

On April 21 of each year, Mr Goodrich visits his former neighbor to hand deliver some hand-picked dog-toothed violets.

“They always come out April 21st. Raymond would go out and pick them and present them to her. When he died, my wife, Mary, would pick them for her. I’m just continuing the tradition,” Mr Goodrich said.

The Fosdicks donated some 40 acres of their land to the Newtown Forest Association, which they supported ardently.

Mrs Fosdick admits she never thought she would live this long, although her husband always predicted she would outlive him. Longevity does appear to run in the family. Her great grandmother, who lived to be 101, was also alive in three centuries. She was born in 1799 (the same year George Washington died) and died in 1900.

Mrs Fosdick graduated from Smith College and studied and traveled widely prior to meeting her husband. She traveled to China in the early part of the Twentieth Century and later made several trips to Greece with her husband. She particularly liked Crete.

“She went around the world as a young woman, by herself. She’s very proud of that accomplishment,” noted Thomas Cheney, her attorney. “That’s an intrepid thing to do for a young woman.”

While not considered a great socializer, Mrs Fosdick had many close friends and family members. She was a non-smoker and never drank, which may help explain her long life.

“She was extremely bright. She kept her mind sharp by memorizing so many lines of Greek poetry everyday,” Mr Goodrich said.

In his book, Chronicle of a Generation, Mr Fosdick described his wife as a “comrade and collaborator who was to buttress the most satisfactory period of my life.”

“I just visited her the other day. She still has all her marbles, but she does tire easily,” Mr Cheney said.

Mrs Fosdick’s fondest memory may have been the day she got to look through the eye piece of the Mount Palomar Telescope in California, which, at the time, was the largest in the world. She still talks about it today.