Obituary: Elizabeth “Betty” Kilpela

As received from the Erickson Crowley Peterson Funeral Home:

 Elizabeth Ann “Betty” Nordstrom Kilpela of Copper Harbor. Michigan, died peacefully in her sleep at the age of ninety-one on June 28, 2024.  Betty was born on February 17, 1933 in Hancock in her parent’s home on Hancock Street. Her parents were Dr. Fahle Nordstrom (born in Sweden, died in 1965) and Lydia Kangas (died 1968).

          Betty lived until the age of three in Hancock after which her family moved to Detroit, Michigan. She had two sisters, Eunice Matson (died in 2009) of Dollar Bay and Helen Wisuri (died 2022) of Livonia, Michigan. Betty was the wife of Capt. Donald Kilpela for seventy-one years. They met in church in Detroit and began dating in 1948 (Betty was fifteen, Donald eighteen) and they married in 1952.  

          Betty graduated from Cass Technological High School in Detroit in 1951, majoring in Fine Arts. She attended the Center for Creative Studies in Detroit in the mid-1950s and studied under the renowned artist Charles Culver. Betty was an accomplished and creative watercolorist throughout her life and featured paintings at various exhibitions and in her two gift shops in Copper Harbor. Her gift shop, “Ragamuffins Gifts,” opened in 1975 and “Elizabeth’s on the Waterfront” opened in the early 1990s. Both of her two gift shops were popular locations for lovers of local art throughout her many years as an artist and businesswoman.

          Betty and her husband, Don, after living for nineteen years in the Detroit area, bought the Isle Royale Queen II, the ferry service from Copper Harbor to Isle Royale National Park. Inspired by the ferry service, Betty and Don bought or opened several businesses over the next decade, some successful, others downright failures:  the Keweenaw Inn North, the Book Concern of Hancock, the magazine “Copper Country Anthem,” and their ship, the oil tanker, “ MacVie,” operating from the island nation Curaçao in the Caribbean Sea, and Betty’s two gift shops. Nothing meant more to her than the hundreds of people she met through her two gift shops. Her kindness and caring were attributes that people knew her for. She always wished to be a help towards others. She truly lived her Christian beliefs.    

          In 1994, Betty and Don moved to live year-round in Copper Harbor, but later years spent several months each year in Lake Worth, Florida.

          Betty and Don had five children who over many years worked with them in their businesses. Betty often commented how lucky she was to have her husband and children near her throughout her life.  Surviving Betty is her husband, Don Sr., her children, Capt. Ben (Marsha) of Copper Harbor and Okemos, Michigan, Susanne of Traverse City, Michigan, Jocelyn of St. Paul, Minnesota, Lisa Ronan (Cormac) of Aurora, Colorado, and Capt. John (Karma) of Copper Harbor and Calumet. Her eldest son, Capt. Don Jr. of Copper Harbor preceded her in death in 2020. She is also survived by thirteen grandchildren: Miranda, Kyle, Sean, Sam, Griffin, Elaine, Grace, Logan, Drew, Noel, Martin, Violet, and Pearl. Her five great-grandchildren are Aster, Lilian, Iris, Quinn, and Veronica. They all knew where she stored her jelly beans. 

          Her family funeral will be held on September 15  in Copper Harbor.  The Erickson-Crowley-Peterson funeral home is assisting the family.