Betty Myers enjoying the outdoors
Elizabeth “Betty” Buchheit Myers, Blue Lake resident and wonderful grandma, passed away on November 13, 2009 in Minocqua, Wisconsin. She was 91. She is preceded in death by her husband Dr. Vernon Work Myers.
Elizabeth Perkins Buchheit was born on December 28, 1917, the youngest daughter of Dr. Albert Buchheit and Marguerite Foy of Park Ridge, Illinois. Growing up, she shared a room with her great-grandmother Azuba Elizabeth Walker (Perkins) who encouraged her love for art, science and independence. Betty was an enthusiastic member of the Girl Scouts of America and rose to the highest rank of Golden Eaglet. She competed on Maine Township High School’s swimming and basketball teams and idolized Alexander the Great.
Betty attended Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois and earned a degree in biology. During World War Two, she enlisted in the Navy and after completing training at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, she entered the Office of Naval Intelligence in Washington, D.C., as part of the WAVES program. In the spring of 1945, while a lieutenant junior-grade, Betty met ensign Vernon Myers at the Navy Junior Officers Club in Washington, D.C. They married in the summer of 1947 in Park Ridge, Illinois and had five children: Albert, Vernon “Bucky,” Mary, Marguerite “Peggy,” and Elisabeth “Betsy.”
In 1961, while the Myers family was living in the Philippines for Vernon’s Fulbright Fellowship for Lecture, Betty seized an opportunity to chaperone her children on an around-the-world adventure which took them through many parts of Asia and Europe. Upon returning home to the United States, Betty continued her education, earning a master’s degree in wildlife management from The Pennsylvania State University. Betty ultimately became a full professor of ecology at Montgomery College in Rockville, Maryland where she headed the college’s environmental studies program in the Virgin Islands.
Since the early 1920s, Betty’s family vacationed in Minocqua, Wisconsin and were one of the first families to settle on beautiful Blue Lake. Betty often described her summers at Blue Lake as, “the making of me” and reveled in the abundance of her favorite outdoor activities: sailing, canoeing, diving and horseback riding. Always environmentally conscious, Betty was a founding member of the Blue Lake Preservation Association and worked diligently to preserve and enhance quality of life on Blue Lake. Betty and Vernon eventually permanently moved to Blue Lake from their home in Rockville, Maryland to pursue their mutual affection for nature and the outdoors.
Betty Myers is honored by her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, a loving extended family and her many friends in the Northwoods and around the country.
A funeral service is scheduled for December 12, 2009 at 11:00 a.m. at St. Matthias Episcopal Church in Minocqua. A memorial celebration commemorating Betty’s life will be held this summer.
Robert J. Bella, longtime Blue Lake area resident, passed away on Friday, October 23rd, at the age of 67, after a brief battle with pancreatic cancer. Funeral services were held on Friday, October 30th at All Saints Catholic Church in Berlin, Wisconsin. Several years ago, Bob retired as the controller of West Bend Company and spent his retirement enjoying life in the Northwoods with his wife Bev, spending time with his children and grandchildren in southern Wisconsin and wintering in Arizona. He will be greatly missed by his family, friends and neighbors around the Blue Lake area.
