Nancy Betzel, age 85, of Acworth, Georgia passed away Thursday, June 22, 2023. Nancy was born on January 25, 1938 in Philadelphia, the daughter of the late Sidney Birch. Nancy moved to Atlanta as a young adult, with her three children, Glenn, Bruce and Penny. She was blessed with two grandchildren Michael, and Nicholas and is the great grandmother of Aria. Nancy was married to Robert Betzel and enjoyed sharing precious moments together.
Nancy was always willing to try different things and often spontaneous packing in a moment for an adventure with her children to the sea for the first time, rafting rivers, daring to scale cliffs for an exhilarating dive into a river or go caving in the north Georgia mountains. Nancys sense of adventure took her hand gliding off the doons of Kittyhawk NC and flying a twin-engine plane over the Blueridge Mountains to Philadelphia.
People knew Nancy to be very friendly, kind, and helpful. She was always empathetic and understanding. She made intimate connection with people and was always optimistic about life with the belief good things would happen. Her determination and sense of excellence earned her a Batcheler Degree in Sociology from Kennesaw State with honors. Though she was in her early fifties, she assimilated with students on campus who always invited her to study groups or a caffe after class.
Nancy overcame many challenges and achieved excellence yet was modest of never thinking she was better than other people; she rather focused her talents on helping others. She applied her degree in Social Work towards the caring and contribution to the welfare of others. While she was in school, she did an intern for the Atlanta Hospitality House providing food and shelter to families with loved ones in the hospital. When she graduated, she would spend the next ten years working the night shift at the Atlanta Women’s Shelter. She had a natural compassion, and sympathetic consciousness for others’ distress together with a desire to alleviate it. She had the real quality of being kind and understanding with a quiet nature that provided comfort to the women she served who often experienced domestic violence.
In her career, and in life, she had the quality of being fair and truthful. During her life she accumulated philosophic and spiritual learning reflected in her Idealism. She had the firm adherence to a code of moral values that were complete and undivided. She had a strong faith that the universe is good and harmonious and did not require resentments freeing her to easily forgive. No matter how turbulent life became, she maintained a state of tranquility and quiet freeing her to love, in serenity, and unity.
Nancy had a sense of joyfulness and wonder when experiencing something beautiful, and amazing. She traveled the world. In Greece, she experienced the Acropolis citadel with the Parthenon temple and climbed Mount Olympus. She cruised the Amalfi Costiera on a moped overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea rugged shoreline dotted with small beaches and pastel-colored fishing villages. In Switzerland she attended a peace conference at the Caux Palace resting on the high peaks of the Alps overlooking Lake Geneva. In Italy, she ventured alone to Venice and experience the Grand Canal thoroughfare – lined with Renaissance and Gothic palaces. In Paris she enjoyed watching people pass sitting at the legendary Café de la Paix by the Place de l’OperaIn. In the new world, she ventured on Highway One overlooking the Pacific Coast cliff-lined beaches, and redwood forest. In Yoshimi Valley she marveled at Glasures beneath the clustering of celestial star formations from the hood of her rental car. And she sailed the Caribbean, Mediterranean and Artic Seas.
To continue the celebration of Nancy's life, visitation will take place at one o’ clock in the afternoon on Saturday, July 8, 2023, at the Winkenhofer Pine Ridge Funeral Home. The funeral service to honor the life of Nancy will be two o’ clock in the afternoon following a reception at three o’clock.
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