- Date Of Birth: May 28, 1946
- Date Of Death: April 17, 2017
- State: Florida
Merrie Elizabeth “Bets” Chinnock
(May 28, 1946, Detroit, Michigan – April, 17, 2017, Gainesville, Florida)
Merrie Elizabeth “Bets” Chinnock had three great passions in life: family, friends, and travelling.
The only child of Donald R. and Merry K. Chinnock, Bets travelled the world with her parents while her “Pop” served in the U.S. Air Force. Travelling to and living in different and exciting places as a child sparked a restless and adventurous spirit in Bets that inspired her to continue seeing the world; first, as a Navy officer’s wife and then later, after raising a family, in her own career.
To Bets, the best part of seeing the world was the people she met along the way. Meeting and making new friends wherever she went, Bets took a genuine interest in people and their stories and found beauty in every person she met. She has left behind a wealth of friends whose lives have been touched by her immeasurable capacity to live, laugh, and love. In turn, her friends made the tapestry of her life ever so much more rich, colorful and truly beautiful. While Bets did not come from an exceptionally large family, she created an enormous family of friends and loved ones with whom she was always happy to share her heart and her home.
What Bets cherished most in life, however, was her immediate family, particularly, her children. With her husband Daniel G. Brophy, whom she met and married in 1964, Bets had three children: Lisa J. Brophy, Daniel D. Brophy, and C. Kimball Bosko. While she and Dan went their separate ways for a time, they remained close until the end of her life and shared in their love and pride for their children. Bets also had tremendous affection for her extended family, Bill Bosko, Andy Brophy and his fiancée, Meagan Meyers. She treasured her grandsons, Saylor and Will Bosko, and granddaughter, Cali Brophy, with all her heart and could not be dissuaded from spoiling them, as it was her prerogative as a proud “Gaga” to do so.
To those who knew her well, no discussion of Bets would be complete without mentioning the simple love and devotion that she held with her special companions in life. Kippi, Chaupanza, Duke, Littlebit, Goofy, Mei-Tu, DaLi, Tanta, Boomer, Dizzi, and, most recently, PoPoe were constant friends, travelling partners, and confidants. The devotion that Bets inspired from these creatures exemplifies her ability to love.
