Elizabeth Knight Sanford

Elizabeth “Betsee” Knight Sanford of Durham died peacefully on Friday, December 15 surrounded by family and friends. Betsee was born on February 3, 1949 to the late Margaret Rose Knight Sanford and the late James Terry Sanford, Sr., who served as Governor of North Carolina, U.S. Senator, and President of Duke University. She grew up in Raleigh alongside her younger brother, Terry, Jr., where the two learned to navigate life in the big city for four years. Betsee attended Needham B. Broughton High School, Fayetteville High School, and eventually Chatham Hall in Virginia. She went on to study at Peace College and East Carolina University.

Betsee was creative, innovative, and a free spirit. She started Carolina in the Morning in the 1990s, a company that curated local food products for gift baskets sold in gourmet stores throughout North Carolina. She also founded a pottery company called Museum Crafts. While Betsee was involved with a number of entrepreneurial endeavors throughout her life, she was an avid reader and book collector, and she dedicated the rest of her working life to the Regulator Bookshop in Durham. She enjoyed helping customers find their next read at The Regulator for a decade until her retirement.

Of Betsee’s many interests, one that particularly stands out to family and friends was her love of music. She listened to a variety of genres, including North Carolina’s James Taylor as well as The Pretenders (Chrissie Hynde was her favorite!). She experienced the legendary Woodstock festival in 1969, and her family loved hearing amazing stories about this unforgettable event. Betsee was a beach person, and she spent many fun weekends at Wrightsville Beach with friends enjoying the coast, eating oysters, and listening to great music. The Thanksgiving Sanford Family Reunion and Oyster Roast was one of her favorite holiday traditions. Betsee loved her family, and over the years developed a very close friendship with her cousin Franny Knight, who lives in Pacific Palisades, California.

Betsee was passionate about photography, art, and she adored animals (her own and she supported the APS of Durham). She was an advocate for the rights of Indigenous Peoples and was a supporter of the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. Growing up alongside a father who was a great politician, she volunteered on his successful campaign for the U.S. Senate as well as the campaigns for Hubert Humphrey.

Betsee will be most remembered for her kind and vibrant approach to life. She appreciated great food, her dear animals, travel, and close relationships.

She was constantly surrounded by friends, and she carved her own path throughout her life, insisting on living on her own terms.

Betsee is survived by her brother, James Terry Sanford of Durham and her sister-in-law, Laurie Gilbert Sanford, of Durham; her niece Lauren Sanford of Chapel Hill; and her niece Virginia Sanford of Bahama as well as Virginia’s husband, Jay Zignego, and son, Gus Zignego.

Memorial donations may be made to the National Wildlife Federation https://support.nwf.org/page/60118/donate/1?ea.tracking.id=SRC&gclid=Cj0KCQiA4Y-sBhC6ARIsAGXF1g6Shjic6Mdm_A_kTlhcO_8QzQ-qWdnT01wvNoqw-8V7xk9BYUEdicEaAjEQEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

or to the ASPCA  

https://secure.aspca.org/donate/ps-gn-p2?ms=MP_PMK_Googlebrand&initialms=MP_PMK_Googlebrand&pcode=WPSN7GO2PK01&lpcode=WPSN7GO1PK01&test&ds_rl=1066461&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiA4Y-sBhC6ARIsAGXF1g4CBuX_mX9inBOw5gV-V7JcCbDnb5MrsIHQ94Jjk9DkXvLc_tLWQ90aAtrpEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds