Elizabeth W Ketchum

KETCHUM, SARAH ELIZABETH WELLS - was born in Battle Creek, Michigan on January 11, 1922. She died peacefully on Saturday, November 5, 2011, at the end of a life well lived. In between, she showed the world what it meant to be a strong, courageous, and tenacious woman, a dedicated wife, a loving friend, and a good mother.

Liz would say that an early morning walk was a blessing for the whole day. She always took care of herself, taking brisk morning walks long before the sun was up. She played golf, and was an avid dancer. When she was young, she loved going to the dances at the USO and the Hi-Lo Club in Battle Creek. She seemed to float as she danced with her high school sweetheart, Raymon "Cy" or “Ray” Ketchum, and you could see their affection for one another on the dance floor after 53 years of marriage. Liz's best days were ones that started with fresh air and ended with a fox trot.

Liz would laugh often and laugh hard. She loved a good joke, and she shared them freely with her closest friends like her cousin, the late Jane Pyatte. She had many, many lifelong friends with whom she shared travel and life adventures, starting when she was 18 years old and took a one-way ticket to Miami Beach with nothing but $100 and her best friend, Maxine. Liz always encouraged independence, and she enjoyed talking about her work in the Kellogg Factory and as a secretary for the US Army Air Corp. An Army Captain she once worked for said he could predict her future by feeling her head. She replied that as long as it was just her head, she would let him have a go at it. After he did so, he said she was intended to be a homemaker, and that was the work she always said she loved best. She had three children - Mark, Michael and Sarah - and she was devoted to her husband and family. She lost her oldest son, Mark, in a tragic accident when he was 12 years old. She was a Camp Mowgli Den Mother, a cub scout leader/mother, and a Girl Scout Leader.

Retinitis pigmentosa, a genetic eye disease, gradually took Liz's eyesight when she was in her 40's. Even so, she still remained active in the community, working at the Prew School, golfing at Forest Lakes CC, and as an in-demand fashion model at Maas Brothers. By the time she was totally blind she learned how to walk with a cane and learned water aerobics and became an expert instructor at the community pool of Oak Forest Condominiums and elsewhere. After the death of her husband in 1995, she learned how to walk for exercise unassisted in her neighborhood. She learned how to ride SCAT and FISH. She took computer lessons and her prowess was amazing. "When I'm walking with you, don't take my arm. I'll take yours if I need to" she would say with confidence and self assurance.

After her husband died, Elizabeth insisted on being self-sufficient and lived on her own for 16 years until her own passing. In her later years, Liz became an active member and facilitator at the Lighthouse of Manasota, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing services to the blind and visually impaired. She taught life skills and she advocated for the rights of the visually impaired. She helped people of all ages who were just starting their journey into a world without sight She would tell her story, her most intimate fears, the five stages of grief, and to the sighted she would say that when you did something for her that she could do for herself, you were only feeding fear and weakness. Liz was courageous and resolute.

Elizabeth adored spending time in the mountains of Western North Carolina ever since first trip to the area in 1957. One of the treasures of her life was her bi-annual trip up to the pastures, endless forests, and miles of white and split rail fences surrounding Lake Lure. Elizabeth’s husband Ray served on the Board of their Fox Run - Fox Den condo at Lake Lure, NC. After Ray passed away, Vacation Resorts International and the homeowners asked her to take his place on the Board. She served for many years and rose to be President of the Fox Run - Fox Den Homeowners Association.

Liz would tell us that we are able to alter our lives by altering our attitudes. She would agree with Thoreau when he said, “He who would have nothing to do with thorns must never attempt to gather flowers.” Liz always believed in the next bud that was about to bloom.

Sarah Elizabeth Wells Ketchum died after her husband, Raymon E. Ketchum; her son, Mark Richard Ketchum; three of her brothers, William , Edward, and Robert, and; her parents, Joseph and Elizabeth McGregor Wells. She is lovingly remembered by her daughter and son-in-law, Sarah Ketchum Bradley and Peter H. Bradley, her son and daughter-in-law, Michael Ketchum and Patty Ketchum, and her four grandchildren, three great grandchildren, her kid brother, Mark Joseph Wells, the late Jane Pyatte’s daughter, Janie Letterman and Janie’s siblings, one nephew, two nieces, and several second and third cousins.

In lieu of flowers, Liz would ask that donations be made to the Lighthouse of Manasota. or the American Foundation for the Blind. There will be a Celebration of Life on Friday, November 11, at 11 a.m. at the Church of the Palms on Bee Ridge Road in Sarasota, Florida.

Arrangements under the direction of National Cremation & Burial Society, Sarasota, FL.