Elizabeth J. "Betty" Bastian

Elizabeth J. Betty (Cameron) Bastian, 89, a longtime Chelmsford resident, passed away peacefully on Sunday, May 28, 2023, at Sunny Acres Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, Chelmsford. She was the beloved wife of the late Dr. Delford Ansill who passed away in 1979, the late Richard Murdock who passed away in 1981, and the late Jack Bastian who passed away in 2011.

She was born in Somerville on December 6, 1933, and was a daughter of the late Merrill and Frances (OHara) Cameron.

Betty was raised and educated in Billerica and graduated from high school in 1951. She was active in school clubs, where she served as a class officer and played basketball for four years. After graduation, she worked at a bank in Boston until she married and moved to Pennsylvania and Florida to start a family. In 1965, she returned to Billerica to care for her own mother and raise her four children. As a single parent, while completing her own education at Lowell State College, and working as a medical secretary/assistant, she graduated with a BS in elementary education and MS in special education. For nearly three decades she was a classroom and learning disability specialist teacher in the Chelmsford school system. Her adult life was filled with many travel adventures in the US and abroad with family and friends, cruising and boating. Betty enjoyed spending time at her summer home on Cape Cod and in her later years a home in Orlando.

She was a talented artist in many mediums including painting, stained glass, quilting, piano, and singing. She was a devoted mother, grandmother and great grandmother who created many fun memories for all the children who called her Nanny. Her friends enjoyed her friendship and the ability to light up a room with colorful outfits, humor, and love. She loved her Red Hat club friends and traveling with fellow teachers, especially her dear friend Eleanor Combs.

Betty leaves her children, Valerie King and her husband Michael, and Brian Ansill and his wife Carol; her grandchildren, Jacqueline Wooster and her husband Jesse, Caralyn Seibert and her husband Nicholas, James King and his wife Kali, Thomas Ansill, and Michelle Ansill; her great grandchildren, Reese, Quinn, Evelyn, Elizabeth, James, and Ford; her stepchildren Jack Bastian and his sons Taylor and Jack, Tom and Tia Bastian and their daughter Paris, and Barbara Bastian and her husband Hugh Gonglewski and their daughters Alexandra and Nicole. She also leaves her brother-in-law, George Nickless and his extended family.

Sadly, Betty is predeceased by her two children, Faith Morgida and Glenn Ansill; her brother Lester Cameron and her sister June Nickless.

Visiting Hours will be held on Friday, June 9, 2023, from 9:30 10:30 am at the Blake Chelmsford Funeral Home, 24 Worthen St., Chelmsford. Her Funeral Service will be held in the funeral home following the visitation at 11 am. Interment will be held privately. Memorial donations may be made in her memory to the Lowell Humane Society at lowellhumanesociety.org/donate.

Service Details
Visitation
When
June 9, 2023 9:30am - 10:30am
Location
Blake Chelmsford Funeral Home
Address
24 Worthen Street
Chelmsford, MA 01824

Funeral Service
When
June 9, 2023 11:00am
Location
Blake Chelmsford Funeral Home
Address
24 Worthen Street
Chelmsford, MA 01824