Learn about the lively life of Frances Betts, a new centenarian in Waynesboro

She was the only girl in her high school class to go to college.

She fell in love with a man she met on a blind date.

She is a 50-year cancer survivor.

Now, Frances (Newcomer) Betts of Waynesboro can add turning 100 to the list of unique events in her life.

Remembering her early years

Born Sept. 20, 1925, in the Wharf Road area of Quincy Township to Ervin and Mary Newcomer, she comes from a family of nine children and was second youngest among five girls and four boys. Betts is the second centenarian in the family. Her sister, Jane (Newcomer) Frye, was 103 when she passed away in January 2024.

“We always had a bicycle, so we always had skinned knees,” she recalled.

Her dad was a farmer and “we chased cows when it was time to milk, sometimes that was 5:30 in the morning.” In her early years, cows were milked by hand, then later with a milker.

She attended Grove Hill School for eight years of school, then went to Quincy High School.

“I always loved school,” said Betts.

She thought she would probably work at Stanley Co., a clothing maker in Chambersburg where many young women were employed back in the day, after graduation.

However, a representative of Juniata College saw things differently when he visited Quincy High School. She was one of three – the other two were boys – from the 33-member Class of 1943 and the only child in her family to attend college.

“It was a big change. I had never left home. My parents were very proud,” Betts said. “I always thought going to college was the best thing that ever happened to me.”

She graduated from Juniata in 1947 with a bachelor’s degree in English and Spanish. She returned to teach at Quincy High School, and the Spanish books were brand new because the language had never been taught at her alma mater before.

Falling in love and family life

Betts only taught at Quincy for one year because she fell in love with Ferdinand Betts Jr. One of her girlfriends set them up on a blind date and they went to a movie at the Arcade Theater in Waynesboro.

“I don’t remember what I saw. We were too busy holding hands,” she said. “Ferd and I fell in love with the first kiss. He was a wonderful guy.”

They married on March 27, 1948, and he passed away on Mother’s Day, May 8, 2016.

Their family includes four children, Daniel Betts, Ann (Betts) Dickey, Nancy (Betts) Mace and Mary Betts, eight grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.

Ferdinand Betts had served in the Navy during World War II and was called back into service during the Korean War. She remembered being all alone for 17 months with the two children they had at the time in a big house they had just bought on West North Street in Waynesboro.

They built a house on Barnett Avenue and moved to Wayne Heights in 1962.

A cancer survivor

Betts was a substitute teacher when her children were younger, then returned to the classroom full-time. She taught sixth grade at the former Snider Avenue Elementary in Waynesboro for 20 years.

“I liked everything about teaching. I loved my students, they were all very good students,” she said.

She retired from the classroom not long after being diagnosed with colon cancer in 1975.

Always a petite woman, she lost some weight but had no other symptoms and no pain. Dr. Bill Guyton did bloodwork and made the diagnosis. She calls him a “super doctor,” said his diagnosis was amazing and is grateful for her recovery.

“Several of my friends did not survive their cancer battles,” Betts said.

‘Doing the right thing’

In retirement, she spent most of her time “taking care of the family,” said Betts, who babysat her grandchildren.

Her husband loved trains, and they would travel as far as California to visit friends and relatives. They attended his Navy reunions for 20 years.

“The boys stayed together,” she said.

Betts loved reading and writing, but now her eyesight makes those pastimes difficult.

When living in Wayne Heights she would talk for an hour in the neighborhood and nearby Renfrew Park.

Using a walker for stability, she still walks for half an hour every day when the weather is nice in Waynesboro’s Rotary Park, which is close to where she lives with her daughter, Mary.

Rotary Park also is where family and friends gathered to celebrate her 100th birthday on Sept. 20, 2025.

She credits her longevity to “taking care of myself and doing the right thing.”

She remembered the hard work and good food on the family farm and still watches what she eats.

“I’m always truthful and aware of doing the right thing,” she said.