Betty J. (Philbrick) O'Keefe Obituary (1929 - 2021)

NORTH VASSALBORO—Betty J. O’Keefe, 91, passed away peacefully on March 9, 2021, at Northern Light Inland Hospital in Waterville. She was born on August 12, 1929, in Auburn, the daughter of the late Jesse Ormond Philbrick and Lillian Grace Furbush Lovejoy. She attended Buckfield Elementary School and Augusta schools. Betty married Donald O’Keefe of North Vassalboro and the couple enjoyed many wonderful years together until his passing in 2019. She worked various jobs in Augusta. Once she was married she worked at Volmer’s Nursing Home in East Vassalboro and then devoted her life as a homemaker. Betty’s passion in life was music and dancing. She danced with an instructor from Arthur Murray Dance Studios from Boston, Massachusetts. He picked her out as she was dancing with a friend and doing her special dance steps that he took notice of. He then asked her to dance with him to show him her dance steps that she called the “Augusta Hop”. He told her that he was going to take it back to the dance studio in Boston. He invited her to stop in if she was in Boston for an audition. That was a memory she cherished. She was predeceased by three sisters, June Brewer, Nancy Meager, and Shirley Johnson; and her brother, Robert “Bobbie” Philbrick. Betty will be sadly missed by her son, Tommy O’Keefe of North Vassalboro; her daughter, Jeannie O’Keefe of North Vassalboro; her grandson, Ryan O’Keefe of North Vassalboro; her sister, Carol Scalora of Kensington, Connecticut; her half-brother, John Lovejoy of New Hartford, Connecticut; and many nieces and nephews. A graveside service will be announced at a later date in the spring.