Elizabeth Hanley “Bettie” Dunn
1928-2019
Bolivar
Elizabeth Hanley “Bettie” Dunn, 91, of 171 Olive Street, passed away Tuesday, June 4, 2019 following a
brief illness. Daughter of Margaret G. and William J. Hanley she was born on April 6, 1928 in Hartford, CT.
A 1946 graduate of Norwalk High School, she majored in Spanish at Emmanuel College in Boston and was
graduated in 1950 with her bachelor’s degree.
She taught first grade in Fairfield, CT for four years before accepting a position with the Department of
the Army in Aschaffenberg, Germany teaching American children of military families. During her two
years in Germany she began what became an extensive collection of chimney sweeps, a symbol of good
luck, and enjoyed traveling throughout Europe. After returning to the United States she taught in
Westport, CT and then took another assignment teaching in Lagunillas, Estado Zulia, Venezuela. It was in
Venezuela that she met her husband James E. Dunn. Married in 1959 they enjoyed 58 years of marriage.
She earned her master’s degree from St. Bonaventure University in 1977 and substitute taught for many
years in area schools. She shared her teaching talents and deep faith as a religious education teacher and
was a long time trustee and treasurer of the Bolivar Free Library. A past member of St. Mary’s Altar and
Rosary Society and the Little Genesee Garden Club, a leader for church discussion groups, and a former
Cub Scout Den Mother, she was an avid reader, lover of her Springer Spaniels, and a talented seamstress.
She loved observing the wildlife from the picture windows of her home on the hill where her favorite
color was evident in the décor of her kitchen where even the refrigerator was pink!
Surviving are her brother Francis G. Hanley of Clayton, GA, brother-in-law Thomas J. Dunn of Bolivar,
daughter Christine A. Dunn of Burbank, CA, son, Patrick J. Dunn of Bolivar, daughter Margaret Dunn
Rollins and her husband Patrick M. Rollins and grandchildren Catherine, Matthias and Elizabeth Rollins, all
of Canandaigua, NY and many nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, her brothers William J. Hanley Jr. and Thomas C.
Hanley, her sisters-in-law Barbara A. Dunn, M. Jane Hanley and Linda S. Hanley, brother-in-law Clifton J.
Morris, and a son Timothy J. Dunn.
Friends may call at the Schaffner Funeral Home, 554 South Main Street, Bolivar, on Friday, June 7, 2019
from 4 to 7 pm. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Saturday, June 8, 2019 at 10 am at St.
Mary’s Church, Bolivar. Burial will be at St. Mary’s Cemetery.
Memorials may be made to St. Mary’s Church, 111 Wellsville St., Bolivar, NY 14715 or the Bolivar Free
Library, 390 Main Street, Bolivar, NY 14715.
The family would like to thank all the wonderful caregivers at Manor Hills and Highland Hospital.
Schaffner Funeral Home
