Elizabeth Marsh Carstensen

Elizabeth Marsh Carstensen (known to most as Betsy) of Princeton, New Jersey, passed away after a full and meaningful life on Tuesday December 9, 2025, surrounded by her family.

Betsy was born in Springfield, MA, on October 2, 1927, to Edward Harding and Majorie (Sawhill) Marsh. She grew up in Springfield and later Scarsdale, N.Y. She graduated from the Masters School in Dobbs Ferry, NY, and then Connecticut College. After graduating from Connecticut College, Betsy began her career in education by teaching preschool at the Church of the Heavenly Rest in Manhattan.

Betsy met the love of her life, Andy Carstensen, while visiting Dartmouth College. Their first date was a Dartmouth–Yale football game at the Yale Bowl. When asked years later by her grandson-in-law (who went to Yale) who won the game, she replied with a smile, “I did.”

She and Andy married and moved to his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio, where over the next 73 years they raised their family and established deep and meaningful roots in their community. She worked as an early childhood educator and later volunteered to serve youth in the city’s schools and at Beechbrook Children’s Home. She was an active member of the Garfield Memorial Church where she attended bible studies on a weekly basis and most recently was a very active member of the Church of the Western Reserve. She also was an enthusiastic participant in weekly Shabbat Torah studies at Congregation Mishkan Or. Betsy had a curious mind, a wide-open heart and graced the lives of all she encountered, even up to her final days.

Among her many passions were the Cleveland Racquet Club (where she and Andy were founding members. She played tennis and swam there until her early nineties); Camp Dudley (where she sent her two sons and four grandchildren); Oglebay Park in West Virginia (where she organized a number of family vacations along with several other Cleveland families), and Andy’s beloved Dartmouth College.

Betsy moved to Princeton four years ago, settling at Princeton Windrows. She immediately began making wonderful new friends and took advantage of the numerous cultural and educational activities offered. She also joined and regularly played in two separate weekly bridge groups!

Betsy was predeceased by her husband Andy, her brother and sister-in-law John and Jane Marsh, and sister and brother in-law Helen and Bob Tredwell.

Betsy was loved and will be deeply missed by two sons and two daughters-in-law Chip and Marilynn Carstensen (Princeton, NJ) and David Carstensen and Marcia Buhl (Buffalo, NY); four grandchildren, Haley Carstensen Johnson and husband Derek Johnson, Andrew Carstensen, and David and Alexei Carstensen; her nieces and nephew, Elizabeth Tessler, Mary Botway, Suzy Joy, and Edward Marsh; and by a wide circle of friends of all ages.

A Memorial will be held on March 14, 2026 at 11 a.m., at the Princeton United Methodist Church in Princeton. Anyone who wishes may make a memorial donation in honor of Betsy to the Church of Western Reserve in Pepper Pike, Ohio, or Camp Dudley in Westport, NY.

Arrangements are under the direction of the Mather-Hodge Funeral Home, Princeton, NJ. Please share any condolences at matherhodge.com.