Bette Segel

BETTE ANN BUTLER SEGEL

March 1, 1941 - March 3, 2025

Bette Ann Butler Segel, a beloved mother, grandmother, sister, and friend, passed away peacefully on the morning of March 3, 2025, at her home in Louisville, Colorado. She was 84 years old.

Born on March 1, 1941, in Massachusetts, to John F. Butler and Ethel Logan Butler, Bette grew up with a love for learning, creativity, and family. She married the love of her life, Richard Morris Segel, in 1961, and together they built a life in Connecticut, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Colorado, until his passing in 2019.

Bette's passions were many - she found great joy in cooking, reading, painting, and writing,and always nurtured creativity in others. She enjoyed dates with Richard at the symphony and the theater, and especially loved traveling with him, culminating in fulfilling a lifelong dream by visiting China, which she captured in beautiful paintings upon her return. She was a competitive scrabble player and loved to talk progressive politics with Eleanor's husband Harvey, which led to great dinner conversation. She taught English as a second language for a period of time.

Anyone who met her, from adolescence until the weeks before her death, enjoyed her sly and witty words, and her tender but also tenacious demeanor. Bette even learned to ride horses later in life as a way to spend time with Eleanor, which was brave, adventurous, and always fun. She volunteered for many years at Chandler Hall, a non-profit Quaker-based continuing care senior living community, devoting years to their board and serving the elderly community in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

Most of all, she cherished time spent with her family. She was a devoted mother to her daughter Eleanor Segel Williamson, and her son David Alexander Segel, and a proud grandmother to her five grandchildren Stephanie, Katherine, Henry, John and David, who brought her great happiness, and all of whom will carry on her legacy of warmth, kindness and a love for the arts. She was predeceased by her son Richard David Segel, and survived by her brother, John A. Butler.

A celebration of Bette's life will be held on March 18, 2025, with a reception to follow. Her family invites all who knew and loved her to join in honoring her memory. Please reach out to David or Eleanor if you would like to attend.

Bette's life was a testament to the power of creativity, love, and commitment to family. She will be deeply missed but forever remembered.