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| Betty in 5th Grade, 1957 |
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| Confirmation, 1958 |
Her family has informed us the burial service was private.
Betty, the writer of our 1960 class prophecy and creator of our 25th-year reunion booklet, would have loved being present at our 50th reunion. She had begun to work on the 50th-year reunion booklet, but illness prevented her from completing it. We know she was with us in spirit.
Kathleen Hughes sent this note in tribute to Betty Giangrego:
Hi Mary and Elaine, I am sorry to be so late in sending this. I have been thinking of Betty for a while. I had a feeling that something was really wrong when she did not answer my email after I saw the reunion photos. Here are some of my thoughts you might share with her friends if you have the chance:
"What, no crabby sarcastic cat card this Christmas! I could always count on Betty to add something special to the holiday season.
"When I think way back to when we were young, I remember all the time I spent at her house and how very kind her Mom and Dad, and her whole family, were to me. No one else had a dog who sat on the coffee table and howled when the soap operas started on TV. That dog did not like organ music! I remember going to the cabin at Wauconda and laughing and making life plans upstairs in bedroom with the slanted roof. I learned the meaning of the expression "smile and nod" at the cabin, when her grandmother would speak to me in Italian. I think her grandmother liked me-she thought I was nice and quiet!
"I always envied Betty's sense of daring and adventure. The thought of running off to London would just never have occurred to me, but what a great experience it had to have been. I loved the fact that she was able to talk me into doing semi-crazy things. I am pretty sure I never would of thought of getting dressed up and going to sit in the lobby of the Ambassador East in hopes of seeing Pernell Roberts. It was pretty amazing that we were not thrown out. Maybe Pernell didn't have a lot of teenagers waiting for a glimpse of him walking by. I think we finally got tired of waiting and took the "El" home. I am positive I never would have gone to the Camel Races in Virginia City without her urging. I learned that many Hell's Angels are just chunky middle aged people who enjoy a drink at the Bucket of Blood-just like everyone else. I even had the chance to show her something new that trip, when I took her to an all you can eat buffet at a casino in Reno and showed her how to play a slot machine (I didn't say I was proud, just that it was something new for her). It was a fun trip, and in fact I did go back with my husband to Lake Tahoe and Virginia City, minus the Hell's Angels.
"I had the chance to meet with Betty a couple of times in the last few years when I was in town for a conference and we had some long talks about the state of the world and our individual lives. The best thing about old friends like Betty is that you can meet every now and then and pick up where you left off with no guilt, and no long explanations of who you are. It did not matter at all what different paths our lives had taken, we just laughed and shared some old memories. Now that is gone, and can't be replaced.
"A special spirit has left this world, but she left behind some very happy memories. Rest in peace, Betty."
Kathy Hughes Wilke, December 10, 2010
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| Keeper of memorabilia, her graduation luncheon place card is ready for her next event |
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| And her 1960 basketball certificate too! |
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