Elizabeth Ford Lipps, age 92, of Gloucester, died at Riverside Walter Reed Hospital on Friday, June 19, 2026. She was known to all as Betty Ford, born on November 10, 1933 in Richmond, Virginia, and the daughter of the late Sarah Frances Pierce Johnson and Ernest Clinton Johnson.
At the age of two, Betty Ford and her mother moved to Falls Church, Virginia, where they made their home with her maternal grandparents, William Arthur Pierce and Alice Lee Watson Pierce, at their home “Holly Oaks” on West Broad Street. She weathered the Great Depression in a close-knit, multi-generational household that included her mother, grandparents, an aunt, and five uncles who doted on (and teased) her no end. These early years were filled with many cherished memories. She recalls listening to the radio, gardening with her grandfather, and going to the White House Easter Egg Roll, where she saw Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt wave to the crowd from the balcony.
In the late 1940s, Betty Ford and her mother relocated briefly to Roanoke, Virginia, where her mother established a Merle Norman Cosmetics studio. Always a baseball fan, Betty Ford recalls these happy times when she could see and hear the games of the Washington Senators farm team playing down the hill from their apartment. She was a dedicated lifelong fan. After graduating from Jefferson High School in Roanoke in 1951, she matriculated at Mary Washington College and completed her final year at the University of Virginia, earning her degree in Medical Technology in 1955 as part of one of the institution’s early classes of women graduates.
Following her graduation, she accepted a professional position in Flint, Michigan, where she purchased her first car, a 1953 Chevrolet. In 1963, through her college roommate, she met David Lee Lipps of Aldie, Virginia. The couple married in August 1964 and established their home in Gloucester, Virginia, where they raised two sons.
After several years devoted to her family, Betty Ford resumed her career as a medical technologist at Walter Reed Memorial Hospital in 1977, where she served with distinction until her retirement in 2002. In later years, she volunteered at the Gloucester Library when she wasn’t traveling the world with her husband, David.
Betty Ford was an accomplished and devoted quilter whose work was widely recognized for its artistry and craftsmanship. Over her lifetime, she created more than one hundred quilts, many of which she generously donated to charitable organizations. She especially found joy in creating quilts for children, which she donated to the Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters. Her work was displayed in various exhibits and fairs, and she created treasured keepsakes for members of her extended family. She was a proud member of the Bay Area Quilters Guild, a past member of the Ware Junior Woman’s Club, and the Willing Hands Circle of the First Presbyterian Church, Gloucester.
Betty Ford was preceded in death by her husband, David Lee Lipps. She is survived by her two sons, Stephen David Lipps of Gloucester, and Dr. William Ford Lipps of Richmond, Virginia, as well as numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins from the Pierce and Lipps families.
A graveside service will be held at Windsor Gardens Cemetery and Mausoleum, 80 Soles Lane, Dutton, Virginia 23050 on Saturday, June 27 at 2 p.m. Memorial contributions may be made to the Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters, the Gloucester Volunteer Fire & Rescue Squad, or the Friends of the Gloucester Library.
The family expresses its profound gratitude to Tammy Sych and Pam Shafer, as well as to Bruce Woodson and Norman Hahn, for the exceptional care, devotion, and support they provided during Betty Ford’s later years.
Services under the direction of Hogg Funeral Home.