2016 Betsy Niles

BETSY NILBetsy Niles_Bridge to Life FINALES

Organ and Tissue Donor

Age 60 ~ Montclair, NJ

Donated on 03/31/2011

at St. Joseph’s Medical Center, Paterson, NJ

Honored by Bridge to Life

Betsy was a vibrant and loving woman.  She was a giver throughout her 60 years of life and was famous for finding the perfect gift for each occasion.  On March 30, 2011, Betsy was walking to catch the train to work in the city and was hit by a van just yards short of the Upper Montclair train station.  The following day, Betsy passed away as a result of a serious head injury. The theme of Betsy’s eulogy was: “THE EXACT RIGHT GIFT AT THE EXACT RIGHT TIME”, because on the day she died, Betsy gave two complete strangers the exact gift they needed: her kidneys. In doing so, she gave them each another chance at life.

Betsy’s Story

Betsy celebrated her 60th birthday on January 4, 2011.  On March 30, 2011, Betsy was walking to catch the train to work in the city and was hit by a van just yards short of the Upper Montclair train station.  Betsy passed away the following day as a result of a serious head injury.  She was a vibrant and loving woman; a mother, grandmother, loving companion and the closest of friends to many, many people.

The theme of the eulogy for Betsy was: “THE EXACT RIGHT GIFT AT THE EXACT RIGHT TIME”.  She was a giver throughout her 60 years of life and was famous for finding the perfect gift for the occasion.  On the day she died, Betsy gave two complete strangers the exact gift they needed: she gave them each a kidney. She gave them each another chance at life.

“I had the greatest privilege of knowing Betsy for 10 years and we were a committed loving couple for that period of time,” said Dan Sarnowski.   “With her passing I found the noble cause of organ and tissue donation, the caring support from the NJ Sharing Network and the myriad of volunteers from organ donor families and transplant recipients filled in many ways the deep void I felt in Betsy’s passing.”   Dan became a volunteer ambassador, the chair of the 5K Celebration Of Life events, a member of several NJSN committees and, for the past 2 years, a member of the NJSN Foundation Board.  Dan speaks to volunteer groups and to hospital staff to share Betsy’s story and how much her being an organ donor has helped in his life after her passing.  Dan said, “We are humbled by the great honor bestowed on Betsy’s memory with the floragraph that will be on the Donate Life Float.