Elizabeth M. Cousin - Lerwick

Elizabeth “Betty” (McCoy, Cousin) Lerwick, known as Mrs. McCoy or Mrs. Cousin to many students in Delavan and Darien, Wisconsin and Grandma Betts to her beloved grandkids, passed away in Appleton, Wisconsin on April 9, 2019, at the age of 97.

Betty was a lady of many gifted and wonderful talents and loved being mom to her twelve children, and Grandma Betts to her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Betty grew up in Taunton, Massachusetts, and graduated from Salem State Teacher’s College in Salem, with a Bachelor of Science Degree in English and History. She met Bill McCoy and was married in 1945. They lived in Colorado and Kansas and then moved back to Wisconsin to raise their family.

Mom always made her children her #1 priority and her motto was “family first.” There was always laughter growing up, in good times and tough times. When her youngest child went to school at age 5, Betty went back to teaching. As an English teacher, she was loved by her students for making learning interesting.

Betty remarried in 1977 to William Cousin, and together the couple shared happy times together until his death in 1983. Betty retired and remarried again at age 66, to John “Cork” Lerwick. Mom moved with Cork to Oregon and enjoyed 17 years in the warmer climate before moving back to Wisconsin in 2005 to be closer to Betty’s family.

Even though Betty lived in Oregon for many years, she always made it back to Wisconsin every summer for the special family reunion in Door County that she started back in the 1960s. All the children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren get together for a week and hang out together. The crowd gets bigger every year! It’s a simple week of traditions. The family goes to the beach, Wilson’s for cones, go-karting, plays charades, has bonfires, and plays bingo with handmade prizes, which everyone looks forward to. The bingo game is a highlight of the week!

Betty loved to read all her life and kept a list of books she’d read, so she never read the same book twice! Mom enjoyed gardening, quilting, knitting, sewing, taking care of birds, and making a home a place of love and comfort.

Betty made an amazing number of quilts for her children and grandchildren over the years and made family photo albums that are a precious family treasure. Betty had a lifelong love of learning. She earned her master’s degree at age 56 in Education. In her 70s Betty took up Norwegian to prepare for a trip to Norway to her husband’s birthplace, and she also learned to knit Irish cable sweaters.

Our mom loved to play games and was known as a great bridge partner. She played scrabble, cribbage, charades, and any game the grandkids wanted, even Candyland! Weee! She was also involved in some serious water balloon fights, sledding races, and many hilarious games.

She has been an amazing example to each of her children and grandchildren. She will be missed. We will carry her love, values, and remarkable zest for life within each of us. We kids called mom a ‘Survivor” once and she laughed and loved that.

Betty is survived by her loving children: Rosemary (Jim) Gegare, Laurie McCoy, Terence McCoy, Erin Bates, John (Rosemarie) McCoy, Virginia (Tim) Byrne, Maureen McCoy, John (Lorraine) Lerwick, and David(Christy) Lerwick; her sister RoseMarie Casey, son-in-law Patrick (Karen Van Gemert) Riordan, daughter-in-law Jane McCoy; her grandchildren Brighid Riordan, Dan (Jill) Riordan, Tim Riordan, Kate (Seth) Harris, and Meghan Riordan; Sarah (Juan) Madrigal, Brian (Karen Lee) Krone, Eric (Debbie) Krone, Charlie (Amy) Krone, Grant, Guy and Theresa Gegare; Deanna Gegare Leanna, Nadine Gegare Castellano; Amy, Ian and Colleen Lawrence; Tom (special friend Kelly) Bates, Cindy (Jerry) Struck; Jason (Stephanie) Salas, Kelly (Justin) Witkins, Brian (Joannie) Byrne, Brad (Ashley) Byrne; Caitilin, Murphy, and Riley McCoy and great-grandchildren Malachy, McKenzie and Myla Madrigal; Owen and Finn Riordan; Ava and Mena Bates, Alex and Jacob Struck; Triona and Canyon Witkins; Norah Byrne and Brayden Byrne; Trinity and Mariah House-Bailey; Ryan, Sean and Liam Harris; Riley Weidner and Grayson Krone; Luka, Emmett and Aria Salas.

Betty was preceded in death by her parents, children: Kathleen Riordan, Mark McCoy, Michael McCoy, Timothy McCoy, and Dennis McCoy; sons-in-law Mark Krone and Gordon Bates; brothers Edward Murphy, Jr., William Murphy and Charles Murphy, and sisters Maureen Donovan and Helen Bresnahan.

The funeral liturgy for Betty will be held at 10:00 AM on Saturday, April 13, 2019, at St. Thomas More Catholic Church, located at 1810 N. McDonald Street in Appleton, with Fr. Jim Lucas officiating. Interment will follow at St. Andrew Cemetery in Delavan. Family and friends are invited to gather at the church on Saturday morning from 9:00 AM until the time of the service at the church.

The family is grateful to all the wonderful, loving caregivers at Heartwood Homes Senior Living for their kind and gentle care of our mom and Grandma Betts for the last 3 years. She loved you and you made her smile.