On Friday, August 16, 2024, Dr. Elizabeth "Betsy" Oelschlager Hayo Morrison, revered matriarch of her family, passed away peacefully at the age of 81. Betsy was born on March 27, 1943, in Madison, Wisconsin, to Alma Marguerite Oelschlager and Victor R.B. Oelschlager.
From an early age, Betsy had an insatiable thirst for knowledge matched only by her want and need to give back to those around her. With her father a renowned professor and her mother involved with the school board, her parents continually nurtured and instilled in her the value of a quality education. She followed in her father's footsteps to Florida State University where she graduated in 1963 with her Bachelor of Science in Education, her master's in education and educational specialist Degree from the University of South Florida in 1981 and 1984, and ultimately, her Doctor of Education in 1988 from Nova Southeastern University.
Betsy, above all, was an exquisite educator throughout all of her days. Her legacy as an educator span over hundreds of children and three decades. Betsy dedicated her life to teaching underserved populations, specifically at both Tillman Elementary and Palmetto Elementary. As a deeply faithful and spiritual individual, she worked every single day to show up for each student and believed in the healing power of forgiveness. Her guidance always took form in not just the tenets she instilled in her students but through her actions and fierce loyalty toward bettering those around her. She sacrificed day in and day out to ensure that she taught and led the right way, which was not always the easy way; she truly was the physical embodiment of the word strong.
As she lived and led in her classrooms, Betsy raised her family in the exact same way. As the primary caregiver to three daughters, Leslie, Kim, and Kelly, Betsy nurtured her daughters into fiercely strong women who embraced their own uniqueness. She had the incredible ability to be seen as a regal leader but also the gentle, compassionate confidant of a matriarch. She could always be counted on to lend a listening ear and knew that there was nothing music, crossword puzzles, horses, or family time couldn't fix. She loved her family deeply, fully, and all-encompassing. As an only child, her hope was to create the world she always dreamed of for her family - one of kinship, love, and togetherness. She left a unique mark on each student, child, grandchild, and great-grandchild she had. Although Betsy is no longer here in body, Betsy's legacy is not just written in stone but is woven into every thread of her family: in her daughters' resilience through difficult times, in her grandchildren's leadership in the world, and her great-grandchildren's infectious laughter.
Betsy was preceded in death by her husband, John (Jack) Palmer Morrison, and daughter, Leslie Hayo Burton, and is survived by her two daughters, Kim Hopper (Rich) and Kelly Ellis (Adam), her eight grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren. As Betsy's time on Earth came to a close and the Lord took her home again, her daughters Kim and Kelly, in strength, led the women in her family to come together to guide Betsy back home in peace.
A Celebration of Life will be held for family and close friends on Saturday, September 14, 2024, at 10:30 at the Longboat Island Chapel, 6200 Gulf of Mexico Drive, Longboat Key, FL 34228.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations be made in her name to the Humane Society and Manatee Children's Coalition. Brown & Sons Funeral Homes & Crematory 43rd Street Chapel, 604 43rd Street West, Bradenton, FL 34209, is in charge of arrangements.
