Florence 'Betty' Delano, 97

Florence “Betty” Elizabeth Delano, 97, of Framingham, MA died Sunday January 31, 2016.

She was born on November 8, 1918, in Detroit, Michigan, to Earl and Florence (Rouse) Chittenden.

At the age of four, the family, including older sister Dorothy, moved to California due to her father’s business and settled in Sacramento.

She was schooled in California and graduated with an art and music major from Sacramento Junior College.

After working for four years at the Sacramento Bee newspaper, she moved to the East Coast just after World War II in 1945.

She started working as a colorist and model for Bachrach Photography, one of the nation’s oldest photography businesses made famous for its artistic portraiture of high profile people including presidents.

At Bachrach, she befriended a female coworker. That coworker later introduced her to her brother who would become Betty’s future husband.

Betty and Herman Harlow Delano III of Brookline married in 1953.

During the early years of their marriage, they spent four years back in Sacramento before moving East again. They settled in Framingham around 1960, and Betty continued to work for Bachrach until 1965, a total of 20 years of service.

From then on, Betty and Herm spent the rest of their 49 years together between Framingham and their summer home in Duxbury, a relaxation spot they both enjoyed. They also made memorable trips to Japan, Belgium, Hawaii, and other locales thanks to Herm’s business. Japan was one of Betty’s favorite destinations.

She was a member of the Simpson Park Garden Club and Plymouth Church, where she was an original member of the church’s “Country Cousins.”

Besides traveling, her passions were singing and painting in several different mediums. In California, Betty was soloist at the weddings of several friends and did other solo singing in the Sacramento area, and continued to study music in Boston once she relocated here. She also loved the arts, flowers, good jokes, a good BLT and a piece of lemon meringue pie, and the little pleasures of life.

She even appeared in the movies, when one of her framed portraits from Bachrach adorned the mantel in a Gloria Swanson picture.

She was predeceased by her parents, her sister Dorothy Chittenden Negri of California in 2010, and her best friend and husband Herm in 2002.

She is survived by her stepson Wesley H. and his wife Carol Delano of Framingham; her grandchildren; her nephews Martin Delano of Duxbury and Donald Negri of Sacramento, CA; her best friend Leigh Groves and her family; her beloved feline companion Mittens; and many other close friends and neighbors in Framingham.

Relatives and friends are invited to attend her funeral on Friday, February 26 at 8:30 a.m. in the Norton Funeral Home, 53 Beech St. (corner of Union Ave.), Framingham.

Burial will follow at Cedar Grove Cemetery, Marshfield.

Expressions of sympathy in her memory may be made to the MSPCA, 350 Huntington Ave., Boston, MA 02130