Elizabeth Parcells Arms, 93, died peacefully in the loving company of her husband of more than 72 years, Charles Arms, at their home in Marion, Massachusetts, on Wednesday, October 5, 2011.

Betsy, as all her many friends and family knew her, was born in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, in 1918. She attended Connecticut College, serving as Class President and Head of Student Government, graduating with a BA in Art in 1939. On July 3rd of that same year, she was married to her beloved husband Charles, a marriage based on a storybook love affair that was to thrive and strengthen for nearly three-quarters of a century.

For the first 30 years of this marriage, she lived in Cleveland, Ohio, where she raised her three children and where she served as an active volunteer for the Junior League, the Fairmount Presbyterian Church, and numerous other community organizations. Beginning in 1979, she spent semi-retirement years with her husband at their home at Ocean Reef, Florida, where she was deeply involved with the formation of the Ocean Reef Chapel and the Ocean Reef Art League. Here she also found time to become a voluminous reader as well as to pursue her lifelong passion for drawing and watercolor.

During these same years, she and her husband spent summers in Marion, Massachusetts, where she became involved with the Sippican Historical Society and the Marion Art Center. She touched many lives during these years and made countless friends, all of whom came to know her as a wise adviser and loving counselor, always giving of herself, always eager to listen, support, and affirm.

She is survived by her husband Charles, her sister Mariana Wagoner, her son, Myron Arms and his wife Kay, her daughter Carolyn Young and her husband Skip Crane, her daughter-in-law Margot Stone, widow of her late son David Arms, as well as by seven grandchildren and eleven great grandchildren.

Notice of a memorial service will be announced at a later date. Gifts may be made in her memory to the Marion Art Center, P.O. Box 602, Marion MA 02738, or to Connecticut College, 270 Mohegan Ave, New London, CT. 06320