Elizabeth Louise Park “Betsy” Marciniak

   Elizabeth Louise Park “Betsy” Marciniak, 80, of Knoxville, Tennessee, passed away peacefully on November 7, 2026, in Knoxville, surrounded by family, after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. She is with Jesus. She is HOME.

   Born in Washington, DC, to Charles Park and Louise Odell Park, Betsy grew up in a Navy family in Silver Spring, Maryland.

   At the University of Maryland, Betsy was a cheerleader and a Kappa Kappa Gamma. There she met Walter “Whitey” Marciniak, a Terps fullback from Old Forge, Pennsylvania, who became the love of her life. They married on April 1, 1967, in the university chapel and shared 46 years together, raising their three children in New Carrollton, Maryland, and Macungie, Pennsylvania. Betsy loved each of her children more than life itself.

   Betsy built a successful career in radio advertising sales. Her warmth won people over, and she could carry on a conversation with anyone, a gift that stayed with her all her life.

   If one word captures Betsy, it is KINDNESS. She loved life, saw the good in everyone and always saw the glass as half full. Her energy was contagious and her heart had room for all. She accepted people without condition or judgment, and she never failed to thank those who helped her. She made people smile, and she always gave great advice. She was, in a word her family uses often, a hoot.

   Her greatest hobby was her garden, where she tended more than 100 prize rose bushes and shared her roses with family and friends. An accomplished rosarian, she won many trophies and awards from rose societies in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and Connecticut. She loved birds, especially cardinals and bluebirds. Music filled her days: Elvis, gospel hymns, and above all country music. She was a devoted sports fan who could happily spend an afternoon watching basketball, football or golf.

   Anyone who knew Betsy will remember her signature style: a visor, red lipstick and a closet full of pink and blue in every shade. In recent years she also developed a delightful habit of picking the raisins out of Pepperidge Farm raisin bread, one slice at a time. In memory care she took up noodle ball and became a self-proclaimed champion, her competitive spirit as strong as ever.

   After Whitey’s passing in 2013, Betsy moved to Sarasota, Florida. Florida was her happy place, and she never tired of watching the beautiful sunrises and sunsets there each day. She later moved to Knoxville to be close to her daughters. In 2022 she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease at the Pat Summitt Alzheimer’s Clinic. Throughout the four years since her diagnosis, her daughters Kimberly and Michelle tag-teamed as her primary caregivers. Kimberly kept her looking beautiful and shared her faith with her, which Betsy treasured. Despite all she had to endure, she let her light shine for everyone she met and remained a friend to all, living out to the end her lifelong motto: “It is what it is!”

   Her family is deeply grateful to “Team Betsy,” the circle of family and friends who surrounded her with love in these years, including Michael Allison, who always made her laugh, showed up for her every step of the way and sang “Davy Crockett” with her until the very end, and Sarah Hillyer, whom she loved as her own daughter and who started a prayer chain that reached around the world. Special thanks go to Cari, GG, Cricket, Lisa, Debbie, Sandy and Owen, her private caregivers and dear friends in her final years, and to the staff of Arbor Terrace and UT Hospice for the wonderful care they gave her throughout and at the end.

   Betsy is survived by her children, Kimberly (Michael) Allison of Knoxville, Tennessee, Steve (Mindy) Marciniak of Allentown, Pennsylvania, and Michelle Marciniak of Knoxville, Tennessee; her grandchildren, who called her “Nana”: Miranda (Jed) Emert, Cody (Callista) Allison, and Mitchell, Peyton and Meredith Marciniak; her sisters Kathleen Culkin of Waterbury, Connecticut, Christine (James) Ventura of Riva, Maryland, and Amy (Patrick) Kemp of Clarksville, Maryland; many nieces, nephews and cousins; her beloved grand-dogs, Jasper and Bing; and two great-grandsons, one Emert and one Allison, on the way in March and May of 2027.

   Her Last Wish, Granted

  Betsy’s memorial has already taken place, exactly the way she wanted it: with everyone together while she was still alive and full of life. In October, more than 50 family and friends gathered at a cabin in Gatlinburg to celebrate her. Beautiful flowers filled the room, and photos covering the walls showed every season of her life. They ate, drank, sang and danced. They laughed and cried together, and Betsy was at the center of it all.

   She held hands, gave kisses and told everyone she loved them. She smiled nonstop, offered up words of wisdom, and sang “In the Garden” with her sisters. It was truly a miracle that she rallied the way she did, and the weekend brought healing and closure to everyone there. She was happy, happy, happy, and she wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.

   The family also celebrated her birthday a few months early, so everyone could sing to her together. As they sang Happy Birthday, Betsy told them, “Thank you all for coming. You all are amazing. Keep on keeping on. I love you.” Then she blew out her candles. Her last wish had been granted.

   Not even three weeks later, on November 7, she took her final breath with Kimberly and Michelle by her bedside.

   In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in Betsy’s memory. Betsy shared a love of basketball with Michelle, and the two most influential women in Michelle’s life, her mom and her coach, Pat Summitt, both lost their battles with Alzheimer’s disease.

   Gifts may be made online at wbhof.com or mailed to the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, 700 Hall of Fame Drive, Knoxville, TN 37915, with “In memory of Betsy Marciniak” in the memo line.

And He walks with me, and He talks with me, and He tells me I am His own.