Retiree devoted to mission: Connecticut woman repairs damaged rosaries

Our take: Connecticut retiree Betty Holden has been repairing rosaries since 1997 as a labor of love and devotion to the Virgin Mary for those who have broken their rosaries or to those who are in need of a new rosary.

SIMSBURY, Conn. — Betty Holden in on a crusade to take broken rosaries stashed away in dresser drawers and give them new life and put them back into service.

The 75-year-old retired travel agent has been making and repairing rosaries for almost 20 years. She spends several hours a day behind a pair of needle-nose pliers repairing rosaries that she sends back into the hands of the faithful and overseas to missionaries.

She gets help from her husband, Dick, who she said never prays the rosary and goes to church just in case. His main job is cutting string for the strands of beads.

"Im the lowly string cutter, " joked Dick Holden, 76, who got roped into helping his wife after she broke her wrist rollerblading a few years ago. "She's the boss and chief inspector."

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