Elizabeth B. Tice

Elizabeth Beecham Tice, (nee Longley) was born September 5, 1945, to James L. and Dorothy B. Longley of Deaborn, MI. She passed away on Tuesday, August 1, 2023, at age 77, surrounded by her family, from complications of renal failure and cancer. Elizabeth, or Betsy as all her friends knew her is survived by her husband, Herman Dana Tice; her daughter, Jessica; her grandson, Bowen; and her brother, Jim. Betsy grew up in Deaborn, MI. At age three, for Christmas, she asked her parents for a baby doll. That year instead she received two brothers, James L., and Clifford B. Longley. Not seeing any difference and as a good sister, she helped raise them. One time getting her brother, Clifford, a bottle at night and interpreting what they were saying. Something she was so good at the pediatrician told her to stop so that the twins would learn to speak English. She also taught them how to crawl and walk. At age six, she started school at the Edison Institute (Greenfield Village School) from kindergarten through 6th grade. Among the traditional school subjects, she also learned about traditional crafts such as spinning and weaving on the historic looms and attended classes in the collected one room schoolhouses at Greenfield Village. Then she attended Dearborn Public Schools and graduated from Edsel Ford High School. Betsy attained her Bachelor’s degree in Education from the University of Michigan. She later earned her Master’s in Business from Detroit Mercy. After graduating college Betsy married her first husband Malcolm McDonald. She became pregnant but the child was stillborn. Complications during childbirth caused DIC and she was told she would never have children again. After her loss, Malcolm divorced her. As she recovered, her high school sweetheart reappeared in her life. They dated again for seven years until she came down with what she thought was the flu. Eight months later they were married and a month after, she gave birth to her daughter, Jessica. Betsy worked at Difco Labs for over 30 years where she had many friends among her coworkers that she remained close to through most of her life. While working there she became an expert in her field and even helped to write the company manual. She became the go-to person on all products the company made. She later moved to Pennsylvania when Becton Dickenson bought out Difco and needed experts to run the newly acquired products. She spent ten years in Pennsylvania before returning to Michigan. This time she moved into her newly built dream house in East Jordan, MI where she stayed until her death. Betsy had many hobbies. Her most enduring however, was her love of gardening. Every house she owned had at least four to five gardens, much to her husband’s dismay. Betsy loved growing flowers and vegetables all summer long and often employed her family in the never-ending task of digging, building flower beds, and weeding. She eventually infected her daughter with the same passion. Betsy also practiced the art of bonsai for thirty years. She belonged at various times to the Ann Arbor Bonsai Society, the Susquehanna Bonsai Society, and Sakura Bonsai of Traverse City, MI. Betsy’s story is one of survival against all odds and one of pure will. She survived the stillbirth of her first child and DIC, though it drained three blood blanks and she contracted both Hep B and C because of it. In 1984, against all odds, she gave birth to her daughter. She underwent multiple experimental treatments and eventually overcame both Hep B and later Hep C outliving by half a century diseases that should have killed her twenty years after contracting them. In 2008 she underwent a liver transplant and nearly died from portal hypertension beforehand. She went on to live another fifteen years. A large part of that was her sheer stubbornness and will. Even at the end, she insisted on having her own way. In lieu of flowers, the family kindly requests donations to be made to Michigan Animal Rescue League (https://marl.org) or The Miracle League of Plymouth (https://www.miracleleagueofplymouth.com/) in honor of Elizabeth. Arrangements have been entrusted to Kalkaska Funeral Home and Cremation Services.

Elizabeth B. Tice

September 5, 1945 - August 1, 2023