"At the still point, there the dance is." T.S. Elliot
In Memory
Betsy Fleming Kittle, age 76, of Chicago, IL died peacefully on June 13, 2026 surrounded by her children Julia Kittle Hynes and David Kittle.
Born in Kansas City, MO, Betsy grew up in Wilmington, DE to parents Dr. E. McClung Fleming (Mac) and Patricia Crew Fleming (Pat). She graduated from The Tatnall School where she played varsity field hockey and lacrosse and Fleming College in Lugano, Switzerland. She later earned a bachelor's degree in journalism at Columbia College Chicago and a Masters in Liberal Arts, with distinction from DePaul University.
She was a market reporter for the Chicago Board of Trade, a licensed CNA, and later was an ESL teacher for adult students at Truman College. But she was always a dedicated scholar. She was a longtime volunteer at Chicago’s Glessner House and was an enthusiastic guide to Graceland Cemetery. She is the author of an unfinished history of whaling based on the journals of a great-great uncle, who was a whaler out of New Bedford, MA. As the family archivist, she mined the correspondence of our paternal grandparents, who were Christian missionaries to India at the turn of the twentieth century. Her essays included themes of Victorian customs, women’s rights and life abroad. She donated her collections to the Newberry Library. Her curiosity knew no horizons; her determination to dive deep was fierce.
Betsy led an active and joyous life in Chicago and made deeply authentic friendships wherever she went. She was free spirited, eccentric, curious, creative, fun, and kind. She was a loving mother to Julia Kittle Hynes (John Hynes) and David Kittle (Erica Gagne Kittle) and was the most incredible grandma to her five grandchildren (Maura and Keira Hynes, and Wyatt, Evelyn, and Riley Kittle).
She loved to watch the moon rise over Montrose Harbor, "Grandma Friday's" with Maura, Keira, and Grandma Sara, taking the twins (Riley and Evelyn) for playdates at the library, collecting sticks from Winnemac Park with Wyatt, the Hamilton Street block party, being a groupie to her favorite band Conjunto in festivals around town, summers in Cape May, NJ, fiesta and the greasy-pole in Gloucester, MA, and family dinner's at the Athenian Room. She had the extrovert’s gift of immediately finding a connection with everyone she met.
In addition to her Chicago family, Betsy is survived by her brother Dan Fleming of Nashville, TN and Mic Fleming of Agios Nikolaos, Greece.
A Celebration of Life service will be held in the next few months. Please stay tuned for more information.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations be made to S.M.A.R.T. Recovery https://smartrecovery.org
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Losing Betsy has left such an abyss in this crazy world; she was a one-of-a-kind human being whose inexplicable laugh I still feel every day. Dear Betsy, I will find you again as I search for that abyss where you now are; I will join you, and we will laugh together once again. I wish you could tell me what you’re reading, or even whether you’re reading, so we could have our deep quiet chats. In the meantime, I know you are in the countless winds that blow through the trees, in the sunrises you loved so utterly, in the soft starlight each and every night, and in the soothing autumn rain. Your spirit will never cease.
Dear Julia and David, you and your families are in my heart and prayers. May God bless you and help you through this difficult time, Love, Richard
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