Betty Gaines

Betty Gaines died on May 23 surrounded by her family. She grew up on Riverside Drive in Manhattan. During World War II, she graduated from New York University while working for the Office of Price Administration. In response to the post war influx of Jewish refugees into the United States, she assisted displaced people by helping them integrate into American Society by working for the United Services for New Americans. In 1947, in a synagogue in Kew Garden she married Bernard Gaines, who was an aeronautical engineer.

Their  careers  led them to Buffalo, N.Y., where she graduated with a master’s degree in social work from the University of Buffalo. They moved to Long Island, where she practiced social work and he played a part in landing Neil Armstrong on the Moon. She devoted her life to personally assisting discarded people and pets.

She is survived by her two sons, Bill and John, as well as their wives and her three grandchildren.