SOUTH PARIS – Betty Lee Edlen Sambor, 81, of Norway passed away Wednesday, Feb. 23, at the Maine Veterans Home.

She was born in Meredosia, Ill. on November 26, 1923, the daughter of Robert Lee Edlen and Jessie Fremont Edlen. Betty was very proud that her father was a Mississippi river boat captain.

She was valedictorian of her high school class, and attended Western Illinois University as a home economics major on a full scholarship. She donated much of her free time to the USO, where she met Walter Sambor and married him on April 22, 1945, in Neosha, Miss.

Betty worked as an educator in the Springfield, Mass. schools for many years, and lived in Ware, Mass. In 1979, she retired to Sabbathday Lake in New Gloucester with her husband, Walter, where she lived until 1996, and then went into assisted living until she needed nursing home care.

Betty bravely battled manic-depressive illness and despite this great difficulty, she was the best mother, teacher, wife and friend she could possibly be.

She especially enjoyed quilting, watching westerns and being a retired teacher.

Her husband, Walter, predeceased her in 1997.

She leaves behind several children and grandchildren, including her daughter, Sally Sambor-Holt and husband, David, of Norway; and many other relatives who reside in Florida, Illinois, Texas and Massachusetts.