The Elizabeth Sweet Peacock Marsh Garden was dedicated on Mother’s Day in 2023. (Contributed Photo)

Elizabeth “Betsy” Swann Marsh Ellis’ legacy lives on through the gardens she created and supported across Tyler and Smith County. Even since her passing, her lifelong dedication has left a lasting impact on the local community, enriching the area with vibrant and cherished spaces.

“Betsy supported our initiative for campus beautification,” said Mitch Andrews, Vice President for Institutional Advancement and Executive Director of the Tyler Junior College Foundation. “Eventually [that] led to her supporting one of the gardens that’s part of our master plan that she named in honor of her mother.”

The area civic and philanthropic leader died June 21 at home surrounded by her family at the age of 82.

Ellis played a key role in beautification of the Tyler Junior College campus, said Andrews. She was so supportive she set up a garden in memory of her late mother.

The Elizabeth Sweet Peacock Marsh Garden was dedicated on Mother’s Day in 2023. The English-style garden includes formal boxwood shrubs outlining beds of perennials, azaleas and columnar oak trees, as well as fountains and multiple seating areas.

“Her mother was considered, really, one of the great women leaders here in the community who helped us establish some truly great traditions,” Andrews said. “That garden is a long-standing legacy that will be enjoyed by generations of students.”

Tyler Junior College students and faculty appreciate the outdoor spaces and the positive impact they have on their college experience. Students, staff and faculty frequently gather in the Marsh Garden for studying, socializing and relaxation.

“It is a place like all of the garden sites that provide us the opportunity to effectively use outdoor space on TJC campus to support our students and faculty,” Andrews said. “Faculty will also use those as points of respite and for outdoor classrooms.”

The community has responded very positively to the garden and it continues to be a popular events and photo opportunity area.

“Betsy seemed to support some of the really wonderful traditions of Tyler that was particularly her passion,” Andrews said. “She considered TJC to be one of those wonderful traditions.”

Mary Lauren Faulkner from the Gertrude Windsor Garden Club in Tyler praised Ellis for encouraging many people to think beyond the city limits with documenting their gardens.

“It leaves a great record,” Faulkner said. “The Garden Club of America firmly believes in documenting today’s gardens for tomorrow’s gardeners, in partnership with the Smithsonian.”

One of her greatest loves was gardening, and she was a leader of Tyler’s Gertrude Windsor Garden Club; was awarded a Garden Club of America Medal of Merit; and served as chair of the Tyler Beautification Committee, which resulted the Governor’s Community Achievement Award.

Ellis was key in documenting several Tyler gardens, including her own 4.5-acre Ravenwood garden, for possible inclusion in the Smithsonian’s Archives of American Gardens.

Ravenwood is documented in the Smithsonian’s Archives of American Gardens. It is one of thousands of gardens that contribute to the archives’ mission to collect, preserve and provide access to resources that document the history of gardens in America.

“She took a huge personal interest in her time and the design of the garden, the plantings in the garden, the maintenance and the care of the garden,” Faulkner said.

The site dates to 1935, and for more than 50 years was the home of the late Sen. Tomas G. Pollard and his wife Edna. Mr. Pollard served as a member of the Texas State Legislature and was one of East Texas’ most influential citizens.

“Betsy was always very giving to allow people to view her garden, to be in her garden, for her garden to be used for several philanthropic, civic and garden club functions throughout the years,” Faulkner said. “[Her death] leaves a great loss for a lot of people with a lot of things that she was involved in.”

She was also highly involved in the Tyler Rose Museum and Texas Rose Festival. In January 2023, Ellis was honored by the Tyler Rose Museum and Texas Rose Festival for her life’s work of community involvement. At the time, Tyler Rose Museum Board Member Patrick Willis said he had heard the following quote said about Ellis: “A rose-colored thread is weaved throughout the life tapestry of (Ellis).”

Ellis is a descendant of one of Tyler’s oldest families and has had a family tradition in the TRF, including herself as a lady-in-waiting while in college, then her daughter Elizabeth Smith Ortega as TRF Queen in 1997, granddaughter Hattie MaGee Smith Shelton served as an attendant in 2004 and was a lady-in-waiting in 2015, and other family members who have served as ladies-in-waiting and escorts.

After being honored in 2023, Ellis said she was so grateful and proud to be part of the community.

“I love Tyler, I love the Rose Festival and I’m so happy to be a part of things. My family has been in Smith County for many generations and I would not want to be anywhere else,” she said. “My family has always been an integral part of the community and they have always been in the position to assist the community.”

Ellis graduated from then-Robert E. Lee High School and University of Texas at Austin where she earned a sociology degree.

Throughout her years of volunteering, Ellis served in leadership and board member roles in organizations such as Junior League of Tyler, Hospice of East Texas, East Texas Crisis Center, Tyler Salvation Army, Tyler Mental Health Association, City Parks and Recreation Department, and Camp Tyler Foundation. She has also been involved with the Tyler Museum of Art Gala, American Heart Association involvement, and other community organizations.

Ellis was also involved in health care areas such as when she served from 1984 to 2018 with East Texas Medical Center Regional Healthcare system.

Prior to her passing, Ellis’ major philanthropic efforts were focused in areas of fostering the education of the arts, health care and environment.