Betty Ann Hershberger Zisk, 83, of Burlington, Mass. and Pemaquid Harbor, died suddenly on Oct. 19.
Betty was born on Nov. 10, 1930 in Washington, D.C. to William Delmer Hershberger and Mary (Martin) Hershberger. She was the eldest of three children. She grew up in Haddonfield and Princeton, N.J.
Her parents were Amish Mennonites from the Midwest, originally from Lancaster County, Penn., who became Presbyterians when Betty was a teenager. Betty attended Swarthmore College and Haverford College, earning a Masters in Political Science. She became a Quaker (Religious Society of Friends) while at Swarthmore, and worked for the Friends Committee on National Legislation in Washington in the early ’50s. This began for her a lifetime of work in progressive politics.
Betty met Stanley Zisk in 1952. They married in July 1953 and divorced in 1977. Betty had three children, Jonathan, Stephen, and Matthew. Betty and family moved to Palo Alto, Cal. in late 1959, where Betty earned a PhD from Stanford in 1964. Betty was a pioneer as a woman in Political Science, which was up to then a field dominated by men.
Throughout her life, she worked tirelessly for her ideas, causes, and family. Betty settled in Lexington, Mass. and became a professor at Boston University, where she taught from 1965 to 2011, only retiring when health problems interfered with her schedule. Her teaching and research focused on methodology, interest groups, and political movements. Her research was hands-on, in the field, and brought her into contact with local political interest groups around the USA.
Betty authored four books and numerous articles. She was also politically active, helping found the Green Party of Massachusetts and participating in (and studying) national movements on women’s rights, ecology, Alternatives to Violence, and Transformational Politics. Betty was a teacher, mentor, and role model for women in academics, and directed numerous graduate and undergrad students. Her last area of research was on the relationships between politically oriented arts/artists and political movements.
Betty was active in the Cambridge Friends Meeting and the Midcoast (Maine) Friends Meeting. She built her communities around BU, the Friends Meeting, and her place in Pemaquid Harbor. She raised her children as Friends, instilling her Quaker values of compassion, peace, justice, and community.
Betty is survived by her sons, Jonathan Zisk and wife Leslie of Ithaca, N.Y., Stephen Zisk and partner Linda Kramer of Newton, Mass., and Matthew Zisk and wife Isabel of Princeton, N.J.; grandchildren, Benjamin, Leila, and Alexandra; sister, Ruth Campbell and husband Jack of Palos Verdes, Cal.; and brother, Edward Hershberger of Portland, Ore.
A memorial service is planned for 2 p.m., Sat., Nov. 22 at Friends Meeting at Cambridge, 5 Longfellow Park, Cambridge, Mass.
Donations in Betty’s honor may be made to American Friends Service Committee, 1501 Cherry St., Philadelphia, PA 19102 (afsc.org); or Bristol Area Library, P.O. Box 173, Rt. 130, New Harbor, ME 04554.
Arrangements by the Graham Funeral Home, Woburn, Mass.
