Elizabeth (Betsy) H. (Platt) Block

Elizabeth (Betsy) Platt was born on April 18, 1939 in Chicago. Her father, Edward Platt and mother Elizabeth (Sissy) moved the family to Manitowoc, Wisconsin where he developed an electrical timer which is still the basis for all timed electrical actions (think refrigerators, lights, sprinkler systems, etc).

She was sent off to Dobbs Ferry, a girl’s boarding school in New York, went to Bradford Junior College, and then to Wheelock, graduating with a degree in teaching. While at Wheelock she transiently encountered Peter Block, a first-year medical student at Harvard, who was dating her old Dobbs Ferry roommate from New York and who stayed at Betsy’s apartment on visits to see him. He remembered, but she was unimpressed.

Two and a half years later Peter called her on December 29 asking for a date for New Year’s Eve. Stating that obviously she was busy (not true), she refused. Peter called again the following week. They were married in Chestnut Hill, Boston one year later. Fast forward fifteen years, Betsy now with three children all in school and studying botany at Wellesley College. Coronary angioplasty had just been developed and Peter, now a cardiologist at Mass. General Hospital, needed a clinical research coordinator for the NHLBI Angioplasty Registry for patients undergoing the procedure in the US. She volunteered, and worked with him each day in their “three lives” in cardiology (the first in Boston, then in Portland, OR, and finally at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta).

She was a tireless data collector, became a patient advocate for all who entered her cardiac research protocols, and retired from Emory after being the coordinator for the Emory Heart Team’s part in the first US PARTNER 1 trial establishing transcatheter aortic valve replacement.

She was a loving mother and doting grandmother who was known by all for her “Gammy Bag” full of gifts for every holiday.  In Atlanta, she taught others how to grow orchids but a summer home in Wareham, MA became her favorite place for gardening, solace, and healing. She is survived by her husband, Peter, daughter Lisa (Theo Wright) and sons David (Kelley) and Christopher (Terri), four grandchildren, two great granddaughters and her sister Peggy Parsons.

Memorial gifts may be made to:

Damien's Place Food Pantry
P O Box 730,, East Wareham MA 02538
Tel: 1-508-295-3486
www.damiensfoodpantry.org/ 

To Leave a message of condolence for the family please visit www.warehamvillagefuneralhome.com 

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