Betsy Bartholomew

I credit the 12 step programs available to me throughout my life for supporting me.

I was born in 1932 in Baltimore, Maryland. Because of my father’s work, my family lived in Canada, but my mother returned to Baltimore for my birth so that I would be an American citizen like them. Quebec City was my home for my first 6 years. We then moved north of Quebec to the company town, Kenogami, an English community within a French community. Even our school was a company school.

After attending boarding school in Toronto for 2 years, I then studied at the University of New Brunswick for 2 years, then transferred to McGill in Montreal. After college, I worked in Montreal. In 1957 I married and over time had 4 children. We travelled to many cities and countries for my husband’s work, even living in Brazil for 2 years. We finally settled in California. There I volunteered in Newport Beach for the Youth Problem Center in Orange County, was on the board of a mother/daughter organization of the YMCA for 6 years. From there I moved to Pinyon Crest Coachella Valley in the California desert.

I took many children by bus to see the Orange County Philharmonic.

I met my present partner 12 years after the dissolution of my marriage; we eventually moved to Leavenworth, WA and have been together 30 years. It is here that three of my children and their children live. The first volunteer job I got when I arrived was with the Leavenworth Echo newspaper.

I credit the 12 step programs available to me throughout my life for supporting me.