Elizabeth Josephine Ehlert (née Tyran, previously Elizabeth Mangione) passed away peacefully at the age of 83 late Thursday evening, September 14th, 2023, in Fayetteville, Arkansas surrounded by her loving family.
Elizabeth, known through her life as Betty or Liz, was born on a freezing cold Friday on March 15, 1940 in Lackawanna, New York to Adolph Edwin Tyran and Josephine Eva Bogacz Tyran. She was the middle child of five with two older sisters and two younger brothers. Elizabeth graduated from Immaculata Academy in Hamburg, New York in 1958. One of her favorite songs from high school was a White Sport Coat (and a Pink Carnation) by Marty Robbins. She was stunning with platinum hair and blue eyes and enjoyed a brief stint modeling. Elizabeth later worked at the Savings Department at Liberty National Bank as a teller where she met both of her future husbands.
Elizabeth married Douglas Nelson Ehlert on February 13, 1960. They were married for nearly ten years.
On October 23, 1970, Elizabeth married Michael Angelo Mangione. They moved the family to Beaver Lake, Arkansas in the winter of 1974 to live off the land. A few cows, pigs, chickens, lots of fishing, and a giant garden fed three wild and growing children. In 1976, they purchased the Alpen-Dorf, a four unit “motel” in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. Over the course of two decades, Mike and Betty would build up the Alpen-Dorf Motel, transforming it into a 30-unit enterprise and the first motel to offer jacuzzi marble tubs in the little town of Eureka Springs. Guests knew Betty as the hostess with the mostest, her wide and welcoming smile was the first thing that greeted folks as they came to visit. Elizabeth prided herself on owning and managing the cleanest hotel in Northwest Arkansas and she scrubbed more toilets and bleached more tile than any human ever should.
Elizabeth loved Christmas and every year she set up an intricate holiday village, with a beautiful nativity scene, and a gorgeously themed Christmas tree. Poor baby Jesus suffered greatly in the hands of Elizabeth’s children, as they would steal baby Jesus from his cradle, and hide him in various places around the house, usually expertly balanced on Elizabeth’s morning coffee mug.
After Michael Mangione passed away, Elizabeth reconnected with her first love, Douglas Ehlert. They remarried on August 31, 1996 at St. Elizabeth Catholic Church and lived in New Port Richey, Florida before returning to Fayetteville, Arkansas for the last 14 years.
Elizabeth is preceded in death by her parents (Adolph Edwin Tyran and Josephine Eva Bogacz); her older brother, Adolph Tyran, and her previous husband, Michael Mangione.
She is survived by her husband of 37 years, Douglas Nelson Ehlert; her two sisters, Bernice Comfort and Mary Anna Jansen; her two brothers, Joseph Tyran and John Tyran; her three children: Michael Philip Mangione and his wife, Robin McAlister Mangione; Katherine “Kat” Anna Mangione and her husband, Clifford Milton Swoape; and Theresa “Tree” Josephine Mangione and her husband Pildong Choi; and nine grandchildren Dominic Francesco Mangione, Caytrin Elizabeth Swoape, Orion Teague Leslie, Ashley Alexandra Swoape, Samantha Jane Swoape, Elizabeth Jusaeng Choi, Angelo Pildong Choi, Marco Namu Choi, and Josephine Anna Choi. She will be missed by many beloved nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends.
Elizabeth’s Funeral Mass will be held 11:00 a.m. Tuesday, September 19, 2023 at St. Elizabeth Catholic Church in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. Burial will be in Eureka Springs Cemetery by Nelson Berna Funeral Home in Fayetteville. To place an online tribute, please visit www. bernafuneralhomes.com. In lieu of flowers, please donate to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital or the Shriners Children’s Hospital.