Welcome the stranger. Show up and be present. Honor all beings. Share your joy.

These are some of the tenets that guided the life of Betsy Bueschel.

The Reverend Elizabeth Thorne Conklin Bueschel, born August 19, 1943; daughter of loving parents Theodore Libby Conklin and Isabell Gulliver Daley Conklin, beloved wife of David Alan Bueschel; cherished mother of Andrea Conklin Bueschel; Lydia Anne Bueschel (Christopher Frumkin); and Cynthia Bueschel Svigals (Matthew Svigals); adored grandmother of Olivia Isabell Frumkin Bueschel; Sofia Joan Bueschel Frumkin; Hudson Theodore Bueschel Svigals; and Lena Dorothy Bueschel Svigals; dear sister of Mary Susannah Conklin Willie (the late Charles Vert Willie); and loving aunt to her nieces and nephews, passed away suddenly on July 10, 2023, while she and Dave were visiting dear friends in Colorado.

Betsy was born and spent her early years in Cooperstown, New York, where her father Ted Conklin was a minister in the American Baptist church. The Conklin family later moved to Syracuse, New York, where Pastor Ted served in the Eastwood Baptist Church and was then the Associate General Secretary of the State Council of Churches, advocating for social change, including desegregation, abolishment of the state lottery, and a moratorium of the death penalty. He also advised Governor Rockefeller, serving on the governor's commission to study human rights laws. Both of Betsy's parents, Ted and Isabell Conklin, fostered Betsy's understanding of caring for the community and working for the common good.

In 1961, Betsy enrolled in Keuka College in upstate New York, which her mother had attended in the mid-1920s. This began a deep, lifelong relationship with the school that culminated in many years of service on the Board of Trustees. In 2018, Keuka awarded Betsy the alumni association's community service award for her years of service to Keuka and her extraordinary level of service to all people. Betsy remained an emerita trusteeof the college, supporting the school with her time, talent, and treasure.

At the end of her junior year at Keuka, Betsy met Dave, beginning their six-decade relationship. Their wedding on June 20, 1965, launched their lives as partners, parents, grandparents,and members of personal and professional communities across the country.

Their first chapter together was in the Bay Area, where Betsy supported Dave while he was in graduate school. She started her professional career and developed her commitment to youth when she created a teen program at the YWCA of the Midpeninsula. After Dave graduated, they moved to his hometown of Chicago, a place she forever after considered home.

Throughout her life in Chicago, Betsy furthered her commitment to progressive causes and embodied the social justice principles that guided her life, serving on the boards of the Chicago YWCA, Broader Urban Involvement for Leadership Development (BUILD), the League of Women Voters, Chicago Metropolitan Association of the UCC (CMA), Community Renewal Society, and Maria Shelter, among others. She also deepened her commitment to her faith through membership in the First Congregational Church of Wilmette; fostered an ever-widening community of friends and neighbors; and lovingly parented the three daughters she and Dave welcomed to their growing family. Her daughters weren't the only beneficiaries of her deep love, unwavering care, and fierce advocacy. She was a second mother to many beloved children up and down the North Shore, throughout Chicago, and across the country.

In the 1980s, Betsy received the call that her father and grandfather had answered—a life of service through ministry—becoming the third generation of ordained ministers in her family. She had become more active in the First Congregational Church, serving as youth leader and managing teen programs,and knew that she wanted to deepen that commitment. In 1983,she began the Master's of Divinity program at Chicago Theological Seminary (CTS), reversing roles with Dave as he supported her through her graduate studies. Her ordination into the United Church of Christ (UCC) was in 1987, and she was called to be Associate Minister in her home church, a position she held until 1992. Her service to the UCC continued throughout her life—teaching history and polity at CTS for twelve years and serving as a consultant and mentor to new clergy in the denomination through the CMA.

As Betsy and Dave started later chapters of their life together, they created homes in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, and then Santa Fe, New Mexico, always keeping a foothold in the Chicago area. Wherever she was, Betsy made sure she remained active in their communities—volunteering, mentoring, and engaging deeply in social justice and faith work, including serving on the board of the Interfaith Community Shelter in Santa Fe and, most recently, serving weekly at a homeless lunch program in Evanston, including in the last week of her life. She was an active member and valued resource in her UCC church communities—the United Church of Santa Fe, where she served as its Church Council Leader, and St. Pauls Church of Chicago.

Betsy was steadfast in her beliefs and practiced faith through action, protesting and advocating on behalf of underrepresented communities both in person and through written word. Most important in these later chapters, her joy at becoming a grandparent was exceeded only by the deep love and absolute delight she brought to the role.

Betsy was the embodiment of the ethos of care. While ministry was her profession, kindness, empathy, and compassion were her creed. She enriched the lives of congregants, fellow volunteers, members of her communities, her many and varied friends across the country and across the years, and most of all, always, her family. Her absence will be felt deeply; her legacy of care lives on in all those she touched.

Information about service:

Saturday, August 5, 2023
10:30 am

St. Pauls UCC
2335 N. Orchard St.
Chicago, IL 60614

Livestream of the service will be available at: https://spucc.org/streaming/

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in memory of Betsy to:

St. Pauls UCC—Campaign to Expand Our Openness (a campaign for increased accessibility and inclusivity): https://spucc.churchcenter.com/giving or checks can be sent to:

St. Pauls UCC
2335 N. Orchard St.
Chicago, IL 60614

Interfaith Community Shelter of Santa Fe, NM: https://interfaithsheltersf.org/donate/ or checks can be sent to:

Interfaith Community Shelter at Pete's Place
2801 Cerrillos Rd
Santa Fe, NM 87505