Obituary of Margaret Betts

Margaret Irene Sontra Betts passed away on October 22, 2021.  Born to William and Irene Sontra on June 10, 1945, Margie was the middle child of three girls.  She grew up in Norwalk where she was in the 2nd graduating class from Brien McMahon High School.  Margie went on to receive an education degree from Southern Connecticut University and took advanced classes on the gifted and talented at Columbia University and obtained her 6th year at Sacred Heart University. 

Margie was a lifelong educator.  She LOVED teaching.  The saying “Teachers teach because it is their passion” applied to Margie.  She constantly went the extra mile for all her students.  Margie taught in Norwalk School System’s Academically Gifted and Talented Program for 10 years.  She then spent a few years selling educational material for Trillium Publishing and working for Cooperative Educational Services before returning to teaching in the Fairfield School System where she taught in the gifted and talented program and then 4th grade for a total of 18 years.  Margie was the Odyssey of the Mind Connecticut State Director for many years and served as a judge for other states and at several national events.

She was an active church member, attending the Norwalk Hungarian Reformed Church until moving to Bridgeport, and then the Golden Hill United Methodist Church.  Margie was fond of traveling with friends, trips to the casino for lessons in probability, and had a love for Saint Maarten in the Caribbean.  She is survived by her son Timothy Betts and his wife Jessica of Fuquay Varina, NC, her sisters Suzanne Virgulak and Linda Van Buskirk and her husband David, all of Norwalk, her grandchildren Blair and Zoey Betts of Holly Springs, NC, her niece Christa Van Buskirk of Cromwell, her nephew Matthew Van Buskirk of Norwalk, and her soul mate Thomas Kelly of Bridgeport.

A remembrance is scheduled for 1:30 PM on November 13th at Lesko & Polke Funeral Home, 1209 Post Road, Fairfield CT with the family receiving friends from 12:30 PM until the remembrance begins.  The remembrance will be streamed via Zoom.  Please email MargieStarBetts@outlook.com if you are interested in observing the remembrance via the stream.  The family asks that donations be made to the Multiple System Atrophy Coalition www.multiplesystematrophy.org or to The Connecticut Hospice www.hospice.com in lieu of flowers.