Betsy Terry, 73, proud of family's pioneering legacy in Seattle

It was a terrible day for Betsy Healy Terry to be outside.

Already weakened by chemotherapy, she stood shivering in the wind and rain at Alki Point, on the same beach where Mrs. Terry's great-great grandparents scrambled ashore from a wooden dinghy and helped found the city of Seattle.

One hundred and 50 years later, Mrs. Terry's son and grandson rowed ashore in a replica of the dinghy Anna to commemorate Seattle's sesquicentennial.

Mrs. Terry came to Alki two years ago to watch the celebration — and make a point about the importance of her family's legacy. Her husband of 54 years, Jack Terry, had died of prostate cancer the day before. At least the rain covered up her tears.

"She was a very proud woman," said Betsy Healy Losh, the third of Mrs. Healy's five daughters. "She loved her heritage. She loved that her ancestors were pioneers."

Betsy Healy Terry died June 10 from breast cancer. She was 73.

She died in her First Hill home, one block from Swedish Medical Center, where she was born in 1920. She raised seven children and spent most of her last three decades managing three of Seattle's most elite social clubs.

Mrs. Terry grew up in Arlington, Snohomish County, where her father, John Healy, ran a lumber yard for his family's business, the Cobb-Healy Lumber Company. The family home was five miles north of Marysville, which was founded by Mrs. Terry's great grandfather, James Comeford, and named for her great-grandmother, Maria.

Mrs. Terry spent her childhood traveling between Arlington and her grandparent's house in Seattle. She remembered walking down the middle of Broadway on Capitol Hill at night when she was young, needing a flashlight to see where she was going.

"In her day, when she went downtown to shop at Frederick & Nelson, she'd run into so many people she knew," said her oldest daughter, Eugenia Terry. "It was shocking to her to watch Seattle become a big city and having so many strangers around."

Betsy Healy married Jack Terry after he returned from World War II. The couple raised their family on a Capitol Hill block where there were 106 children between the 20 houses.

"Mother had an open door policy, and every kid in the neighborhood would come over," Losh said. "It was chaos, but she had an enormous amount of energy. Every night after she put us to bed, she'd stay up reading until two or three in the morning."

Money was tight. Just as Mrs. Terry began looking for a job, a friend invited her to become assistant manager of the Women's University Club downtown. Mrs. Terry went on to be an assistant manager at the College Club and the Sunset Club over the next 30 years. She also was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Pioneer Association of Washington State.

"Mother always had a very active social life," Betsy Losh said. "She always had a lot of friends, and she loved nothing better than to go shopping, then go get a cocktail and then get a good steak."

Mrs. Terry is survived by her children Eugenia Terry, John Terry, Betsy Losh, Steve Terry and Barbara Breskovich, all of Seattle; Mia Bramon, of Newport Beach, California; Bridget Miller of San Francisco; and seven grandchildren.

Remembrances may be made to Swedish Home Care Services Hospice, 5701 Sixth Ave. S., Suite 504, Seattle, WA 98108 and to Displaced Nuns of the Order of Our Blessed Lady of Mount Carmel, 2215 N.E. 147th St., Shoreline, WA 98155.

Chris Maag: 206-464-8450 or cmaag@seattletimes.com