Betty Eva Bederson (nee Weintraub) died on November 9, 2023 at the age of 91. Her deep appreciation of others and her healing words of wisdom will be missed by many. She was a remarkably empathetic wife, mother, grandmother, friend, healer and listener.
Betty was brought up Jewish on 14th Street in Manhattan by her mother Myriam and father Joseph, along with siblings Rhoda and Rita (deceased), and Michael. After graduating high school at the age of 16, Vassar college at the age of 19, and with a Master's degree from Columbia Teachers College at 21, she met Benjamin Bederson, a physicist at New York University, whom she married. Betty and Ben moved to the green suburb of Larchmont, New York, where she gave birth to four boys over 7 years and in a partnership based around love and support, raised Joshua, Geoffrey, Aron and Benjamin. She was also a talented artist, loved to paint and draw, and brought her visual sense and personal style to making her homes in Larchmont and Windsor, Mass. beautiful for all those lucky enough to be around her.
Betty was a free spirit with a sometimes rebellious nature. While she may have grown up in the 1950s, she was more a child of the 1960s — bringing the Beatles, Mamas and Papas, and flared jeans to her household. Driving a convertible VW "bug" and a powder blue minibus, she discovered the wooded house in the Berkshires and put a down payment on it at first sight — and then told her husband Ben when he returned from a trip. She combined city and country life, smoothly transitioning from Tanglewood to Greenwich Village arts shows and cocktail parties. And she helped all of her children develop a love for so much of that richness that life offers.
As her children grew, Betty renewed her career, earning a degree in clinical social work and a certificate from the National Psychological Association for Psychoanalysis. As a well-loved psychoanalyst, she supported many younger couples and individuals who often returned to her for decades. She brought a profound awareness, compassion, and soulfulness to all of her relationships. This was impossible to miss and she was loved for that unique quality.
With her children grown, Betty and Ben returned to New York City, the city she loved, where they lived for many years in lower Manhattan. Benjamin, her husband of 65 years, died earlier this year. After Ben's departure, Betty refused to let him go, keeping his memory very much active in her life. She is also survived by her beloved grandchildren Lucia, Maria, Dana and Atlas, and daughters-in-law Isabelle Germano and Allison Druin.