Elizabeth Ross Lovett (Betsy) was born in Jacksonville, Fla., on March 19, 1930, to John William and Sally Chandler Ross. She graduated from Lee High School, attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and married William Dow Lovett, also from Jacksonville. A leading Jacksonville philanthropist and socialite, she devoted most of her life to community leadership and service.
She was President of the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the State of Florida, and on the board of Dumbarton House in Washington and Sulgrave Manor, the ancestral home of George Washington. She served as Chairman of the Cowford Ball, the American Cancer Society’s annual benefit, and as Honorary Chair of the “Exzooberation” for the Jacksonville Zoo, where she also donated two black bears, Betsy and Billy Bear. Her fourteen years on the Board of Trustees of the Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens included two years as the first female Chairman of that board. She served as President of the Cummer Council, chaired the Cummer Ball and Auction, and reestablished the tradition of the annual Christmas tree display. She gave the naming gift for the Meissen Gallery in honor of her late husband, William Dow Lovett, and their forty years together.
In 2003, the Girl Scouts of America selected her as a Woman of Distinction, and she was honored on National Philanthropy Day in 2008 by The Bolles School, where she gave the naming gift for the Betsy Ross Lovett Center for the Arts at the Bartram Campus and served as Trustee. She was an Advisor for the November 2004 opening gala for the Jacksonville Museum of Modern Art now MOCA) and a member of the Host Committee of the 2005 Superbowl.
At the Jacksonville Historical Society, Betsy served as Vice-President and began the tradition of an annual Christmas Party at historic St. Andrews Church for the Mayor and the City Council. John Peyton, then Mayor of Jacksonville, appointed her to chair the gala opening of the new Jacksonville Public Library, where she served on the Board and gave the naming gift for the Betsy Lovett Courtyard. Her years of involvement with St. Vincent’s Medical Center include the Betsy Lovett Surgical Center and the lead gift for the St. Vincent’s Lung Institute. Betsy also made significant gifts to Douglas Anderson School of the Arts, Episcopal Children’s Services, Jacksonville Arts and Music School, and Jacksonville University. She received the Lifetime Eve Award from the Florida Times Union for her service to the community.
A world traveler, Betsy was a Vice-President of the Board of Venetian Heritage, Inc., an international restoration organization co-founded by her brother-in-law, Laurence Dow Lovett, and previously served on the Board of Save Venice, also co-founded by Mr. Lovett.
Betsy loved hunting and fishing, owning a large hunting plantation in North Florida. She considered one of her greatest accomplishments her success in the blocking the construction by Waste Tech Services of a hazardous waste facility which would have compromised the air and water quality of North Florida and endangered the Florida aquifer. A strong environmentalist, she actively supported organizations including the St. Johns Riverkeepers, Ducks Unlimited, and The Nature Conversancy. She was a member of the Junior League of Jacksonville, the Florida Yacht Club and the Church of the Good Shepherd.
She is survived by two daughters, Elizabeth Lovett Colledge (Frank Denton) and Anne Lovett Jennings (Jim); seven grandchildren: William Lovett Colledge (Erin), Elizabeth Colledge Longenecker (Stan), Gary Burke Parriott, Caroline Parriott Bacon (George), Leslie Dale Parriott, James Cecil Jennings and William Dow Lovett Jennings; six great-grandchildren: Daniel Machado Parriott, Shepherd Davis Colledge, William Rawlings Colledge, Charlotte Anne Bacon, George Glenn Bacon and Rose Elizabeth Longenecker; her sister, Caroline Ross Burroughs; and several nieces and nephews.
Infinite gratitude and thanks to her long-time caretaker and household manager, C. J. Farrell, and to her loving home care aides, Marcella Ivey, Carey Watson and Norlina Arailla.