Betty Burke Donald, 73, of Aurora, Colorado passed away peacefully at Swedish Medical Center in Denver on October 7, 2025. She was a beloved mother, sister, aunt, grandmother, and friend.
Betty was born in Stoneham, Massachusetts on April 23, 1952, and grew up in Tewksbury, Massachusetts. After graduation from high school, she moved to Boston, where she met her husband, Wesley Donald. They were married at Boston City Hall in 1971. While she was pregnant with their daughter Sarah, Wes convinced her to move to his hometown of Orlando, Florida. Despite having beaches only a short distance away on either coast, she yearned for her beloved New England for much of her life.
As a young mother who treasured art, music and literature, Betty discovered that she was a talented stained glass artisan and designer. This led to her teaching stained glass techniques to adult students throughout the Orlando area. A natural instructor, Betty was further inspired to pursue her BA at the University of Central Florida, focusing her passion for literature into a career as a high school English teacher. As with many new teachers, she taught subjects outside of her area of expertise, until she finally landed upon teaching the subject of her dreams. She cared deeply for her students as an enthusiastic educator, and frequently went above and beyond for those who struggled to learn to read, had unstable home lives, or faced food insecurity. She was that special teacher who went the extra mile for those she connected with, sharing extra food, clothing, and (obviously) a very generous amount of her time. She taught throughout the Orange County school system, including in Olympia, Edgewater and Dr. Phillips High Schools, Hunter’s Creek and Glenridge Middle Schools.
Additionally, being a child of the 60s, Betty was a gardener with tremendous respect for and awe of the beauty with which Mother Nature fills our world. Aside from her fondness for New England, she had a tremendous love for the rugged beauty of the Pacific Northwest and western Ireland. In particular, she loved traveling to these areas with her family – and especially with her daughter, with whom much of the time would be spent cracking jokes and turning up the volume on a good song.
She leaves behind her cherished family, brother William (& Gail) Burke of Andover, Massachusetts; daughter Sarah Donald & granddaughter Claire Fisher of Denver, Colorado, and nephew Michael (& Patsy) Burke and niece Alison (& Kevin) Kerrigan of Reading, Massachusetts.
A Celebration of Life will be held at the Seashell Oceanfront Pavilion at Hampton Beach State Park on April 23rd, 2026 at 1:00 pm. In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to the ACLU, your local humane society, or a favorite national park. Additionally, consider becoming an organ and tissue donor. Betty’s immeasurable gift of her donation was able to help numerous individuals.
My friend, you are missed. I will read something and my thought is Betty would love this. Thank you for being a part of my life.