Free Republic

Buddy. Confidant. Cat herder. Betsy Ebeling, 73, who was known as Hillary Rodham Clinton’s best friend and first childhood school chum, died Sunday in Arlington Heights after a long battle with breast cancer. Ebeling and Clinton had a long history together dating back to when they were sixth-graders at Eugene Field School in Park Ridge. “It’s so sudden because Betsy was always busy gathering Hillary and all of us who had been close — especially her Park Ridge school buddies, which she jokingly likened to herding cats,” said Kathy Burgess, a close friend. Ebeling was working on getting everyone together...

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Betsy Ebeling, a native of Park Ridge and Hillary Clinton's best friend, has died. Ebeling grew up with the politician and diplomat in the northwest suburb. She was a vocal supporter of Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign and cast the Illinois delegate votes for her at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. The Chicago Sun-Times reported Ebeling died Sunday after a battle with cancer.

Bob Ebeling, a Challenger engineer who predicted the space shuttle would explode, never truly forgave himself for the deaths of the seven crew. After three decades of guilt over the disaster, he passed away on Monday aged 89 in Brigham City, Utah, following a long illness. The former engineer for NASA contractor Morton Thiokol was part of a team of four that tried to warn the space agency against the launch, saying the temperatures in Cape Canaveral were too cold for the booster rockets to seal properly.