Bettyann Ronis-Raeburn

Bettyann Ronis-Raeburn, age 89, of Silver Spring, MD passed away in May 2020 at her residence at Brookeville Assisted Living. Given the name Elizabeth Ann Raeburn, she was born 12/13/30, in Shanghai China, the daughter of George and Elisabeth Raeburn of the United Kingdom.  Bettyann’s life was full of adventure, with some hardships along the way.  When the Japanese invaded Shanghai during WWII, the Raeburns and other foreign-national families were interred in special detention camps and endured meager food rations and scant medical services. Bettyann entered the Yangtzepoo Camp at age 13 and was 15 when the camps were liberated in 1945. Bettyann made her way to Geneva, Switzerland and found work at the United Nations as a conference interpreter, leveraging her fluency in English, French and German. It was in Geneva where she met Norman Ronis, then a student at the University of Geneva Medical School. Norman brought Bettyann with him to New York City where they married on Jan 15, 1953. After Norman joined the US Navy Medical Corps, they lived briefly in Denver, Great Lakes, IL, MI, Yokosuka, Japan, Brookline, MA, and Levittown, NY, before settling into the new planned community of Reston, VA in 1967 where they raised their sons Peter and Iain. While in Reston, Bettyann’s eye for contemporary and modern design, with a strong European influence, fueled her talents as an interior designer. In 1980, as semi-empty nesters, Bettyann and Norman moved briefly to Annapolis, MD, then to Chevy Chase, MD. Following Norman’s passing in 1984, Bettyann converted to Judaism and made Aliyah, moving to Israel for several years. After Israel, Bettyann lived in Chevy Chase and Silver Spring. In 2016, following an onset of dementia, Bettyann resided at Brookeville Assisted Living, also in Silver Spring.

An ardent and curious traveler, Bettyann travelled to nearly 50 countries and visited every continent including Antarctica. Her enduring interests about other cultures included collecting American Indian jewelry, native Aztecan tapestries, and historical beads from around the world. Her deep passion for beads led her traipse through off-the-beaten-path marketplaces in exotic places like New Guinea, Jakarta, Cairo, and Afghanistan. She made the best of having the freedom to travel and was not deterred about traveling alone. In 1986 she flew on the Concorde, travelling across the Atlantic at 1,600 mph (Mach 2)! Around 2002 Bettyann completed a round-the-world cruise, starting out of Athens. Her last big trip was to South America in 2010 where she visited Argentina and Brazil, then took an extended river boat cruise up the Amazon.  

Bettyann leaves behind her brother Peter Duncan Raeburn of Ipplepen, England; her children, Peter Duncan Ronis and his wife Nanette, of Novelty, OH and Iain Joseph Ronis and his wife Brenda, of Ashburn, VA. Bettyann was grandmother to Ben Ronis and the late Sam Ronis of Novelty, OH, Emily Ronis of Washington, DC, Ryan Cronin of Richmond, VA, and Rachel Cronin of South Bend, IN. With her world travels, Bettyann made many lifelong friends who shared her passion for food, culture, history, and most of all – Beads!

We would like to thank Brookeville Assisted Living of Silver Spring, MD for the excellent care they provided Bettyann in the last few years. Bettyann will be laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery at a later date.