Betsy Wagner

After 98 years, 11 months, and 4 days of a full life, Betsy Wagner passed away peacefully in the company of family early in the early morning of November 8, 2025 at Cape Cod Hospital. Elizabeth Anne Winston was born in a farmhouse on the Sisson Highway in Eden, New York, to parents Meyer J. Winston and Henrietta (van Remmen) Winston. Betsy was the oldest of four children, but was predeceased by her sister Henriette and brothers John and William. Following an early education in a genuine one-room schoolhouse, Betsy went on to graduate from Eden High School and the Albright Art School in Buffalo, NY.
While working as a department store fashion artist, she met her future husband and fellow artist Charles H. (Chuck) Wagner Jr. Subsequently, Betsy worked as a commercial artist and as a costume designer for the Studio Arena Theater in Buffalo, NY.  Initially living in Tonawanda, NY, Betsy and Chuck raised five sons, moving to Somers, NY, in 1966. Following Chuck’s retirement from a career in advertising, marketing, and corporate communications, the couple built a home overlooking a bayside marsh in Eastham, MA in 1983, where Chuck passed away in 1986.
Betsy became an integral part of the Eastham and Orleans communities, remaining ever active in a range of charitable and community service organizations. Betsy was also a long and active member of Federated Church of Orleans, where she met fellow choir member Lee Lindeman, with whom she spent many years until he his passing in 2019. For many of her later years, her son Christofer also lived in her home and lovingly looked after her.
Betsy was a member of several local book groups over the years, and was able to travel internationally to Ireland, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Hong Kong, and Japan. An accomplished sketch artist and watercolor painter, she subsequently preserved her travel impressions on paper. And with a heart as big as her art studio, she regularly created vibrant, one-of-a-kind, personalized greeting cards for generations of family members over the years.
Well into her 90’s, Betsy drove younger neighbors and parishioners who had stopped driving so they could attend church and complete errands – choosing only two years ago to stop driving herself. In all, Betsy worked locally into her 90’s and remained active doing good works through to her very last days – working a full day at the church’s fund-raising Bazaar and singing in the choir the very weekend before her passing.
Betsy is survived by her sons Charles H. (Theresa Berek), Peter F. (Laurie Archer), Steven C.(Kathleen Harvey), Christofer E., and Mark H. (Christine Konen), nine grandchildren, five great-grandchildren, thirteen nieces and nephews, and who knows how many others who viewed her as their other mother, grandmother, etc.
A memorial service will be held at the Federated Church of Orleans, 162 Main St., Orleans MA on Saturday December 6th at 1:00 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, the family proposes a donation to the Federated Church of Orleans, or one of the following: Homeless Prevention Council of Cape Cod - hpccapecod.org, Eastham Food Pantry - easthamfoodpantry.com and the Eastham Public Library - easthamlibrary.org.