After many years apart, Elizabeth Adele (Goetz) Surprenant, 93, rejoined her loving husband, Raymond, on Friday, July 17, 2026. Mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, 4H Club leader, camper, cook, avid reader, master gardener, watercolor painter, traveler, and lover of walks and car drives, Betty will be remembered by her children and all the family and friends who knew her as a woman who loved being alive and who treated everyone she met with kindness.
Betty spent the earliest years of her life on a farm in Greenville, RI. Although the family was poor, she had great childhood memories of riding on the big plow horse while her father Frank X. Goetz worked the fields, and of her mother (Hilda) washing her hair with rainwater. She spoke fondly of folks from Providence coming by to ask permission to pick the young dandelions in the spring, and of the many pigs (including one needy runt) her father raised.
When the farm shut down, the family moved to Providence’s Federal Hill neighborhood, where Betty learned how to make spaghetti sauce, a skill that would serve her future family well. Later, during a weekend outing to Block Island with girlfriends, she met Raymond from Newport, who charmed her by borrowing a rowboat after a nighttime dance party and rowing her around the harbor.
They courted for a short time until Ray, who disliked the long drive from Newport to Providence, said they should get married. He proposed officially while they were dancing to Guy Lombardo’s Orchestra in NYC, and they married in May and had their first child, Thomas, exactly nine months later. Less than a year afterward, two more children arrived, twins Nancy and Joan, and life became very busy for Betty, especially with Ray’s mother, Bertha, also living with them. Four years after the twins, to everyone’s joy and excitement, a new baby, Donald, joined the family.
Betty and Ray gave their children everything they needed growing up: love, warmth, support, and what all the four kids remember so fondly, adventurous outings to campgrounds and parks throughout New England. Betty and Ray balanced each other nicely, with much in common, including their love of nature and travel. After Ray’s retirement from the Newport Fire Department, when they weren’t playing with the grandkids, they traveled together, exploring places in Europe, the Caribbean, Canada, and the United States. One of Betty’s fondest memories was of a New Year’s Eve they shared under the stars outside their pickup camper on the banks of the Rio Grande River.
After Ray’s too early death at age 67 and following the early death of her much loved brother, Frankie, Betty continued living a rich and full life, honing her painting skills, turning gardening from a hobby into a serious study and eventually becoming a U.R.I. Master Gardener and a member of the Newport Garden Club. She traveled when she could, and shared her joy of life with grandchildren and great-grandchildren, giving them wonderful memories they will always cherish.
Betty’s final years were spent under the care of the wonderful staff at St. Clare-Newport. The family sends special thanks to her dear friend, Betty Coristine, the warmhearted St. Clare staff, and her new neighbors at St. Clare for being so kind and caring, and especially to her grandson, Danny, and the other firefighters who eased her worries when she was at Newport Hospital, or facing illness and injuries at St. Clare.
Betty will be missed by her four children, six grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren, and other family members and friends with memories that make us smile. She is finally back with her soulmate, Ray, and we’re sure she’s delighted to be near her dear friends, Betty Shea and Marie Zayatz.
Betty never liked people making a fuss over her, and in keeping with her wishes, instead of a wake and funeral, her ashes will be privately added to Ray’s cemetery plot, under a fine tree the two of them are sure to love.
In lieu of flowers, donations to the Newport Public Library are encouraged, newportlibraryri.org/donate.
Betty always said her world opened when she got her first library card as a child, and she spent her lifetime educating herself through books, and her four kids would be hard-pressed to remember a Christmas when they didn’t get a book or two.
To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Elizabeth, please visit our floral store.
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