Elizabeth Anne Drewes, formerly of Harwich, joined her angels on Friday February 14th, while resting peacefully under skilled nursing care at Tockwotton on the Waterfront in East Providence, Rhode Island. Bette was born in Winthrop, MA to Hugh and Nora (Ryan) Miller. Educated in Winthrop public schools and at Katharine Gibbs Secretarial School, she worked on and off throughout her life as an executive secretary. She was married to Henry “Hank” Cook Drewes (1925-2012) for 59 years and had two children: Carol (now of Providence RI) and son Terry (1961-2016, late of Illinois and Harwich). While Hank climbed the Allstate Insurance Company corporate ladder, the family followed: from Nashua, NH to Weatogue and West Simsbury, CT, then to Brookside, NJ and Cary, IL. After vacationing on Cape for several years they retired to Harwich.

A memorial service is planned at Harwich United Methodist Church on Saturday March 15th at 11:00 a.m. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Harwich Methodist Church 1 Church Street, Harwich, MA 02645 or Yankee Golden Retriever Rescue, P.O. Box 808, Hudson, MA 01749 would be deeply appreciated. Burial is private.

Bette’s lifelong passions were animals and reading. She loved visiting family members who ran the Amesbury town farm in the 1930s, and purchased her first horse while working as a real estate agent in Connecticut. She enjoyed equestrian pursuits with Carol for two decades across New England and northern Illinois. Bette’s longtime involvement with Yankee Golden Retriever Rescue (YGRR) helped find “forever homes” for many dogs.

A part-time job as school librarian at St. Joseph’s School in Mendham, NJ informed her passion for libraries, leading to service on library boards in Cary, Harwich, and Harwichport. One of her proudest accomplishments was serving on the renovation and expansion committee for the Brooks Free Library, and seeing her granddaughter Nova become an avid reader there.

Together, Bette and Hank enriched each town they lived in, supporting education, community events and serving town and church committees. They enjoyed travel across the United States for the Society of Insurance Trainers and Educators (SITE), and on their own to the Caribbean and Europe.

Bette moved to assisted living at Tockwotton on the Waterfront, in November 2020. While there she enjoyed regular Scrabble battles with her daughter Carol and granddaughter Nova, fierce bingo and word game competition, serving on the dining committee and exploring Rhode Island’s many restaurants. The family are especially grateful to the community of the Harwich Methodist Church and to the staff of VNA Hospice of Care New England and Tockwotton for their support during Bette’s last year of life.