Elizabeth Ann (Betty) Brakel, born July 7, 1946, died peacefully on June 13, 2011 in Scottsdale, AZ after a three-and-one-half-year heroic attempt to defeat acute myelogenous leukemia. Surviving is her mother, Ms. Madge Brakel Thomas of Liberty Lake, WA, her brother Arthur Brakel (Linda) of Ann Arbor, MI, and her younger sister Christine L. Brakel of Brightwaters, NY. She had the rare gift of being a person capable of putting everyone she met at ease. Betty was born in St. Louis, MO, grew up in Spokane, WA, graduated in 1964 from Lewis and Clark High School and attended Eastern Washington State College. Betty moved to Phoenix after spending several rainy years in Kent, WA. She worked for years in the banking industry, retired for several years, and most recently applied her ways with money to cashiering in various casinos in the Phoenix area.