Elizabeth Mary (Gowran) O'Callaghan

Elizabeth "Betty" O'Callaghan, 81, beloved mother, was called to her eternal resting place on January 11, 2021. She was born to and predeceased by parents Christopher and Francesca Gowran on May 19, 1939 in Tullamore, County Offlay, Republic of Ireland. Betty immigrated to the United States in 1964 (she later became a US citizen) and married her husband Henry at Saint Nicholas of Tolentine Church in the Bronx, New York. They were married for 51 years before Henry’s death in 2017. They raised three children, primarily in Hartford, Connecticut.

Betty is survived by her two daughters, Annette Ciesinski and husband Paul of Piedmont, Oklahoma, daughter Kelly O’Callaghan and Ric Casciano of Hartford, son Hugh O'Callaghan and wife Mary Katherine of Glastonbury, Connecticut, and her grandchildren Jacob and Ian Keroack, Aidan, Declan and Ronan Ciesinski, and Margaret and Nora O’Callaghan. Betty is also survived by brother Tom Gowran and wife Ursula of New Jersey, and sisters Frances Byrne and husband Mike of Florida, Kathleen Slevin and husband Brian of Tullamore, and many nieces and nephews. She is preceded in death by sisters Teresa Kenny (husband Jimmy, surviving) of Tullamore, Annie O’Connell (husband Paddy, deceased) of Arklow, Republic of Ireland, Margaret (Rita) Comerford (husband Mícheál, surviving) of New York; and brothers Thomas, PJ, and Eddie of Tullamore. She will be missed not only by family, but also by her old friends, particularly those from Bingo and Hartford’s Our Lady of Sorrows parish, including the priests there and the adjoining home of the Our Lady of La Salette Missionaries.

Betty took considerable delight in her grandchildren, each of whom as infants she gave their first bath, and to whom her candy drawer was always open and loaded with sweets. Though Betty was beset with many medical problems in her later years, she also became well known throughout the Oklahoma City medical community as the old lady handing out candy. In her last years, when not visiting a variety of doctor’s offices, she could be seen eating fish fillets at “MacDonalds” (as she pronounced it), and petting the family dog, Marmalade. Betty worked as a homemaker and for 18 years at another job she loved, as a counter clerk and long-time trusted employee at Sousa's, an inner-city pharmacy in Hartford. Though from the Emerald Isle, she loved old westerns, particularly 1960s TV series such as Bonanza and films starring John Wayne. In 2015, she moved to Oklahoma, where so many of her Westerns were set. Throughout her life in America, she missed Ireland and valued her visits there, despite being scared for the entire trans-Atlantic flight over and back. Betty was a stereotype breaker and was particularly proud of being a Pioneer, a three-pin member of the Ireland Total Abstinence Association.

Betty will be missed by all who knew and loved her dearly. A Requiem Mass for the repose of Betty's soul is scheduled for January 16, 2021, at 11 AM at St. Damien of Molokai Catholic Church in Edmond. The Rosary will begin at 10 AM. Burial follows at the adjoining St. Patrick Cemetery immediately following the Mass.

Donations in her honor may be made to Saint Damien Catholic Church (8455 NW 234th St, Edmond, OK 73025).

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