Elizabeth "Betty" Mae (Thompson) Schoonmaker

Gilford, NH-----Elizabeth “Betty” Mae (Thompson) Schoonmaker, 90, of 226 Belknap Mt. Road, died at the Belknap County Nursing Home, Laconia, on Monday, December 21, 2009. Mrs. Schoonmaker was the widow of MSG Howard P. Schoonmaker, who predeceased her in 1978.
Mrs. Schoonmaker was born January 10, 1919 in Winchester, Kentucky, the daughter of Charles P. and Mary Agnes (McTeague) Thompson. She lived in Bradford, Penna. most of her life until moving to Gilford in 1990. She graduated from Bradford High School in 1937 and from the Bradford Hospital School of Nursing in 1941. She was a registered nurse for over forty years and at retirement was head nurse in the O.R. at the Bradford Hospital (now the Bradford Regional Medical Center), retiring in 1984.
Mrs. Schoonmaker loved children and was a doll collector. She volunteered at Squam Lakes Natural Science Center and was a member of the Bradford Hospital School of Nursing Alumni Association. She loved to sew and made clothes, doll clothes, quilts, and pillows.
Mrs. Schoonmaker is survived by a son and daughter-in-law, George and Karen Schoonmaker, of Reading, Penna.; a daughter and son-in-law, Janet and Gary Robertson of Gilford; four grandchildren, Eric, Jonathan, Jay, and Elizabeth; two great grandchildren; and several nephews and nieces. In addition to her parents and her husband, Mrs. Schoonmaker was predeceased by two daughters; her twin brothers, Charles and James Thompson and two sisters, Marilyn T. Horne and Sally A. Raeon.
There will be no calling hours.
A private Graveside Service will be held at a later date at the family lot in Rose Hill Cemetery, Smethport, Penna.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Squam Lakes Natural Science Center, PO Box 173, Holderness, N.H. 03245; Gilford Public Library, 31 Potter Hill Road, Gilford, NH 03249; or Bradford Regional Medical Center, 16 Interstate Parkway, Bradford, PA 16701.
Wilkinson-Beane-Simoneau-Paquette Funeral Home, 164 Pleasant Street, Laconia, N. H. is in charge of the arrangements.