Rose Ann Purk

Betty was a wonderful friend.  Her mother, my mother and dad, and Karen Harris Rockwell's mother all graduated from high school together--Union Class of 1938.  That class had summer reunions for years so Betty and I knew each other from the beginning.  We attended first grade together at Union, then my family moved away until I returned to Crestview my sophmore year.  Betty was always upbeat and ready to listen to anyone and to help in any way that she could.  And when you least expected it, she could make a joke!  She was a strong Christian woman and, along with her husband, raised three beautiful children.  Her older son was killed in a car accident when he was in his late teens or early twenties.  Naturally, that was devastating to her and Martin.  Betty had cancer but beat it once.  The last time I saw Betty was the day or day after the birth of her first grandchild.  She was so excited!  A few months later, the cancer returned and she was gone (Nov. 2006), a couple months after it was discovered.  We had kept in touch after high school--the birthday and Christmas cards and I would see her once in a while when I shopped at Penneys in Celina or St. Marys where she worked.  But I regret that we didn't see or talk with each other more often.  I miss her!