Betty Weinstock, 97, Betty Weinstock, 1927 - 2025
On January 10, Elizabeth "Betty" Weinstock, age 97, of Oberlin passed away peacefully at her home at the Kendal at Oberlin retirement community. She was born August 31, 1927 in Seattle as the third of three children of Frank Jr. and Phyllis Brownell.
Betty grew up in Seattle, went to high school at The Madeira School in Virginia, and graduated from Vassar College. She did post-graduate work in Math at Stanford University, where she fell in love with one of her professors, Bob Weinstock; on April 22, 1950, they were married in Seattle, and the marriage lasted 56 years until his death in 2006. They moved to Oberlin when Bob joined the faculty of the College in 1959, and the rest of their lives were spent there other than a few sabbatical years in Oxford, England.
Betty will be remembered as a kind, charitable, self-sufficient, and strong woman who was devoted to her family and had many diverse interests. She was an avid reader almost to the very end, and loved nature, travel, knowledge for its own sake, and listening to classical music. She was active in sports (at various stages of her life tennis, squash, hiking/backpacking, horseback riding, golf, skiing, and basketball) well into her seventies. Betty was an enthusiastic birder, traveling with like-minded friends locally and to many corners of the world to add birds to their life lists. Gardening and wildflowers were passions, to the extent that she wrote a manual documenting wildflowers in and around Oberlin. She was also a tireless volunteer, which work had an impact in numerous areas. She especially supported nature conservation, social causes, and liberal politics.
She was preceded in death by her husband Bob and two siblings: Frank Brownell III and Phyllis Crooks, both of Bainbridge Island, Washington. She is survived by two sons: Frank Weinstock (Janell) of Salt Lake City and Robert "Stock" Weinstock-Collins (Beth Graybill) of Lancaster, Pennsylvania; six grandchildren: David Weinstock (Crystal), Heather Weinstock, Alex Weinstock-Collins, Emily Weinstock-Collins, Matthew Weinstock-Collins, and Julian Brubaker; and great-granddaughter Mia Weinstock.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests a donation to one of her favorite causes, such as Kendal at Oberlin, Western Reserve Land Conservancy, or The Nature Conservancy; or to an organization of your choosing that supports one of Betty's passions.