Elizabeth Lang Dooley

Elizabeth Dooley “Betty” was born August 19,1924 in Brooklyn, New York to Ferdinand and Clara Lang. Her parents had recently immigrated from Germany. Her brother Ralph was born in 1928. Her father owned a barbershop.

When Betty started school she spoke only German. She graduated from Grover Cleveland High School. After graduating early she went to work in 1940 for Bell Telephone Labs. Her nickname at work was “Miss Guided Missile” because she prepared the billing on Nike guided missiles.

Betty met her future husband Frank Dooley during a vacation at Camp Sagamore in New York. Frank worked for Eastman Kodak. They married in 1948 and were married for 62 years.

Betty and Frank lived for 30 years in an apartment in Parkchester, the Bronx, New York. They had two daughters, Elizabeth “Betti” born in 1951 and Joan in 1953. When the daughters were in their teens, Betty went back to work as a part time bookkeeper.

In 1957 Betty and Frank purchased a lot in New Fairfield, Connecticut on Candlewood Lake to have place to go in the summer. They had erected a small 2 bedroom 1 bath house. They had only the money to have a “shell” built, which comprised the exterior house shell, plumbing, electricity, unfinished floors, open stud interior walls, no ceilings and no heating. This was not unusual for the time and the location, and they paid for it in cash. From that point on part of every summer was devoted to Betty and Frank studying “how-to-do-it” books and completing the rest of their house themselves. Much later they had heat installed and retired there in 1978.

After retirement they enjoyed spending one month each winter in Hawaii, stopping on the way to visit Joan and their grandchildren in California. They also took several European vacations.

In 1999 they bought a condo in Thousand Oaks to be near to their daughter Joan and spent the winters here. They sold the house in Connecticut in 2008. After Frank died in 2010, Betty moved to University Village in 2012. Betty experienced everything UVTO has to offer - Independent Living, Assisted Living, Memory Care and finally Skilled Nursing.

Betty passed away June 24, 2026. She will be deeply missed by her family - daughter Joan Gunning with her husband Bill of Newbury Park, grandson Kurt Gunning with his wife Becky and their daughter Kayley of Simi Valley, and grandson Dylan Gunning with his wife Michelle, and their sons Luke and Westley of Moorpark.

A private family celebration of her life will be held at a later date.