Elizabeth “Betsy” Broom, 83, passed away peacefully in Ohio on August 2, 2025. She was born on December 22, 1941, in Ironton, Ohio, to Lt. Cdr. William Oliver Fullerton and Mariah Elizabeth (née Harper) Fullerton, and was the middle sister of Marianna Ruth Trauty and Carol Watson.
Betsy graduated from Huntington East High School in 1959 and later attended Kent State University and St. Petersburg Junior College. In 1959, she married William John “John” Hale, an IRS field agent, then schoolteacher. They made their home in Jamestown, Ohio, and raised four children: John, Lydia, James, and Joseph. A gifted homemaker, Betsy sewed, knitted, crocheted, gardened, baked, played piano, painted, and loved to read. She volunteered as a Cub Scout den mother and with the Y-Indian Guides and filled her home with music and laughter.
Family adventures included frequent picnic and camping trips at John Bryan State Park, road trips to Chicago, Wisconsin, Yosemite, the Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls, and Disneyland, as well as regular visits to family in Ohio, West Virginia, and Indiana.
In 1972, after a two-year battle with aplastic anemia, John passed away at 40. Betsy, then 30, kept her family together. She later aided tornado relief efforts in Xenia.
In 1974, she moved to Clearwater, Florida, married Norman Everett Coleman, and in 1976 welcomed their son, David. She volunteered at UPARC and later worked as a secretary for the Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services, while enjoying frequent trips shell collecting along Clearwater Beach with the family.
Betsy is survived by her five children, numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and many friends and loved ones. She will be remembered for her creativity, resilience, humor, and unwavering love for her family.
Please visit www.fcdaehlermortuary.com to leave a special memory for Elizabeth or condolences for her family.
