Growing up in a household of five girls must have been a challenge but after their father left the family early on, their mother kept a firm grip on the situation. In 1953 Betty's husband to be, Eric, came into the picture and in 1954 they were married. They were blessed with two sons, Steven John and John Eric (Rik). Unfortunately Steve passed away in 1987 at the age of thirty.

The family spent nearly fifty years in the western suburbs of Chicago, thirty-five of them in the Glen Ellyn area where the boys grew up and went to school. Betty was a full-time home maker and she enjoyed creating culinary delights that the family as well as relatives and friends savored. She was also an avid and skilled bridge player and belonged to several neighborhood groups. She would come home from these sessions and spend hours replaying the hands in her mind trying to decide on perhaps a better way to have played a specific hand.

When Betty was just a youngster she had a piano recital in downtown Chicago. But not having a piano in the family and with so many other activities for a young girl, she drifted away from playing. Later in life she did get her own piano and renewed her love for music. Except she was always hesitant to have anybody listening in case she made a mistake.

Betty enjoyed travel and she was also a very good photographer. There were many trips throughout the US as well as in Europe and she collected an abundance of photos. Since her husband originated from Sweden she was first introduced to this country during their honeymoon trip. Suddenly she was confronted with total strangers that spoke a foreign language and ate a lot of herring. But she endured this first experience, and gradually, through many more visits, learned the language and took to the Swedish food. Being an ardent chef she soon learned to master the recipes for her husbands favorite native dishes, for which he was eternally grateful.

Betty's grandmother originated from Sweden and through research it was determined that her ancestors had lived perhaps just a hundred miles north of her husbands relatives. During one of their visits Betty and Eric spent time traversing the area for clues to their newfound connection. During one of their stops at a small country church, a young minister brought from the archives an impressive looking, but quite dusty, record book and proceeded to search for the name that he was given. And lo and behold there was the entry that was made on the day of Betty's grandmother's birth dating back to the year 1868.

After having first moved to Wisconsin, Betty was eager to explore this wonderful area nestled between the magnificent bluffs of the mighty Mississippi River. But it wasn't long after settling in the new home that her medical problems were discovered. First the large lymphoma tumor was identified and then, because of complications that required emergency surgery, she was struck by a massive stroke which left her paralyzed on the right side and also unable to speak. This all happened two days before Christmas 2002.

After successfully surviving the associated complications it was decided that she needed to move to a nursing home for future rehabilitation. On January 13, 2003, she arrived at Hillview Health Care Center in La Crosse and she remained there until her final demise.

As she began regaining her bearings and started to recognize that her quality of life was at best very limited, she understandably became extremely depressed. But by the help of proper medications and the constant urging from family members and staff, she gradually came around to realize that the only way out of the nursing home was a determined attempt to improve.

And so she set out to better her condition which took a lot of guts and determination. She soon became the shining star of the therapy department because her attitude and progress was in their opinion outstanding. She even reached a point where preparations were made to consider her return home. But then tragedy struck once more, this time in the form of major seizures that eventually returned her back to the condition where she started. Again she faced the burden of trying to retrieve what she had worked so hard to gain.

Even though she made a brave attempt to recover from this set back she was never able to reach that same level. She began to get more despondent and visits from the grandchildren, although enjoyable at the moment, became a sad reminder of what she was missing in her life. She gradually slipped into an existence devoid of the outside world, and sleep became an escape from the reality. Her final hours were spent in an atmosphere of drug induced calm, giving the family at least some consolation. At 5:50 in the morning of November 22, she finally left us.

The most rewarding feeling for the family when the end was near was the response from the entire staff at Hillview. They gathered at her bedside and tearfully acclaimed their love for a very courageous patient that came into their lives and left a lasting impression. Although she was never able to speak the words, she managed to get across her feelings with her dark brown, expressive eyes and her contagious smile.