Betty Pedersen was a longtime Aurora councillor, nurse and dedicated community member, but to her children she was "Mom."
The Newmarket resident passed away on Jan. 26, 2023 at the age of 84.
"My mom was pretty special," said Sandra Pedersen, Betty's eldest daughter.
Born Betty Dalton, she grew up in Peterborough. Betty married Bert Pedersen in 1959 and moved to Aurora in 1961. The couple had four children: Sandra and Diane and then Bruce and Brian a decade later.
Growing up, Sandra said Aurora was a small, safe town and as kids they had a lot of freedom.
"My mom would kind of open up the door in the morning and she'd be like, 'OK, see ya.' We'd go off on some sort of adventure and she'd be like 'make sure you come back for dinner,'" she said.
On top of everything else her mom did, she remembers her being an amazing homemaker.
"She's an amazing cook and a baker and our house was always clean and beautiful with the things that she made. But she was also very busy outside our family home," Sandra said.
Betty was very involved in her Beta Sigma Phi sorority, and was a member of various committees.
"My mom always had her hand in something. She was always going to a meeting or, you know, writing an article for the paper or busy," she said.
Pedersen's second child, Diane Pedersen, remembers the little things while growing up.
"She just made the everyday things in our life great," Diane said.
Diane and Sandra were teenagers when their mom first ran for council. She said they didn't have any concept of municipal politics but they campaigned for their mom.
"I remember it just in our neighbourhood there and Regency Acres going around knocking on doors, delivering flyers, talking to people and I think we were great ambassadors for her," she said.
Pedersen served as a member of town council from 1978-1982, 1985-1994 and 2000-2003.
Through that time, Diane said she encouraged them to learn about municipal affairs.
"She would come home and and talk to me a lot about what happened during the meetings. And I learned a lot from her and she taught me a lot about how to be a good citizen," she said.
She said her mom taught her that the municipal election is the most important one to vote in because those are the issues that affect daily life.
Pedersen's involvement in the town included the Aurora Seniors Centre, Aurora Public Library, York Region Safety Village, Aurora July 1st parade celebrations and Santa Claus parades, and hosting weekly Aurora Cable TV presentations.
Pedersen's sons, Bruce and Brian, were much younger than their sisters when their mom first started getting involved, but they played their own part in her campaigns.
Bruce said he was eight-years-old when his mom first ran. His job then was to help put up signs. It was a job he kept throughout Pedersen's political career.
"I can still picture her signs over the years, how they evolved," he said.
But at home, he remembers the same things as his sisters: a mom who trusted them with the freedom to explore as long as they came home for dinner, who was a great cook, and an intelligent and caring person.
Eventually Pedersen and her husband separated and, in 1993, she married Bob Scott.
Scott was a longtime councillor in Newmarket, so the two had a shared interest in local politics and serving their community. Pedersen made the move to Newmarket after marrying him.
Bruce acknowledges it was a bit of a hot topic as she was still on Aurora council, but she maintained the family home in Aurora in order to be eligible to run and she still cared for the community.
He stayed in the house with his brother and it was open to his sisters whenever they came back to town, as they were older and had moved away by then. Bruce said it was a happening place and often the centre of social functions.
His mom would drop in regularly, he said, even if they had friends over, she would sit down and chat with them and just hang out.
"We had a good relationship for a long time and we we were very open about what we were like as people, we didn't hide stuff," he said.
Sandra, Diane and Brian all moved out of the province eventually. Bruce also spent some time away but eventually settled back in the Aurora area.
Because he was physically the closest, he was able to spend more time with their mom in the later years of her life.
"She still sort of seemed to be just an older version of what she had always been. She was still involved with things. She went to church. She had her little routines. She liked to go to the to the local pool, she went to Magna Centre, Ray Twinney Complex," he said.
Scott passed away in 2008 and since then Pedersen was on her own, but she remained independent, even throughout health challenges until her recent death.
After her passing in January, the Town of Aurora lowered its flag to half-mast in her honour.
"I was saddened to learn of the passing of former councillor Betty Pedersen. From her long-term involvement in many community organizations, to her continued support of public engagement in local politics through her cable show Council in Action, Betty epitomized the principle of service to community. Her dedication to building a better Aurora is a legacy which will benefit our community for generations to come,” said Aurora Mayor Tom Mrakas. “On behalf of Aurora Town Council and Aurorans, I offer my deepest sympathies and condolences to Betty’s family and friends.”
A service was held at Roadhouse and Rose funeral home in Newmarket on Feb. 8 and she was interred at the Newmarket Cemetery.
Her children said they are hoping to honour their mom moving forward with a bench or other public dedication in Aurora to celebrate all her contributions to the community.
