Betty Louise Anderson
January 23, 1944 - December 10, 2007

Betty Anderson was a compassionate, hardworking and honest woman who lived her life being an example of a loving mother and grandmother, devoted friend and faithful Christian. Her rosy, cheerful personality shone like the sun warm and hopeful for everyone around her. She was truly a ray of sunshine for those close enough to receive the gift of her warmth.

1944 was a historically important year for people in the U.S. and abroad. As Franklin Roosevelt started his second term as President, the Battle of the Bulge began as Germans penetrated the Allied front in Belgium. While the war continued to be waged overseas, life for Henry and Jeannette (Laning) Sickman of Grand Haven, Michigan, was much simpler. Already the proud parents of two children, Tom and Phyllis, on January 23, 1944, the couple delighted in the birth of their twin daughters, Betty and Bonnie. Like most twins, Betty and Bonnie shared a very special bond and shared that closeness their entire lives.

Along with her siblings, Betty grew up in a loving, Christian home. Henry provided for his family working at the Shaw Box Crane in Muskegon, while his wife stayed home and cared for their children. The family was faithful members of the First Christian Reformed Church, and this strong religious upbringing would always be an important part of Bettys life. As a young girl, Betty enjoyed being involved with the Girl Scouts, where she learned to sail as a Mariner. She received her primary education at Rosy Mound Elementary, a small one-room schoolhouse, and graduated from Grand Haven High School in 1963.

Shortly after graduating, Betty and her sister, Bonnie, followed the same patriotic calling of other young people of the time, and enlisted in the U.S Navy. During their three year tour of duty, they both served as Dental Technicians until their honorable discharge in 1966. It was during this time that Betty met a handsome serviceman named Petty Officer Steven Johnson. Over time, their friendship blossomed into romance and they were happily married in April 1967 in Norfolk, Virginia. It wasnt long after saying I do that the newlyweds received the wonderful news that they were expecting their first child. Tragically, while serving aboard the U.S.S. Scorpion submarine, Steven, along with 98 other sailors, was lost at sea in May 1968. Betty was utterly devastated by her loss, however, five months later, her daughter, Laura, was born on October 18, 1968, which brought joy and meaning to her life again.

Needing support from her family, Betty and baby Laura moved to Colorado to live with her sister, Bonnie, and her husband, Rick. After a few years, Betty found love again with a good, hardworking Christian man named Gil Anderson. They were married in 1972, in her sisters home. Thereafter, Betty and Gil built a new home on a farm in Parker, Colorado, where they would start their lives together. Soon, they added another set of little feet running around their house with the birth of their son, Nathaniel, on August 3, 1973. Gil was a good provider for the family, working with computers, and Betty was completely content being a homemaker, not only caring for their children, but the farm animals as well. With a natural green thumb, she tended a huge garden and canned much of the bounty each year. Betty was a wonderful mother, always attentive and supportive of her childrens activities, including in 4-H, various horse clubs, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts.

Unfortunately, Betty and Gils marriage ended in 1979. She and the children then moved to Spring Lake, Michigan, where she found work in the kitchen at Fruitport High School. For a while, Betty and the kids stayed in a tent behind her sister Bonnies house. After some time, she was able to buy a house of their own, and being so excited, they decided to sleep on the floor of their new home that first night, which literally saved their lives. During the night, a tornado came through and knocked a large tree onto the tent where they would have been if not for the new house. As time went on, Bettys children grew up, graduated from Fruitport High School and later married and had families of their own. Betty was thrilled to be a grandmother and simply adored her seven grandchildren. By this time, she had been working in housekeeping at North Ottawa Community Hospital in Grand Haven since 1987. She went on to retire from the hospital in 2004, after 17 years of service.

In 1992, Betty met Jim Quinn and they became good friends who tremendously enjoyed each others company. They began worshipping together as members of the Jibson Immanuel Baptist Church, where she enjoyed teaching Sunday school. Always active, the two loved to be going somewhere, whether on motorcycles, flying, kayaking or by boat for some fishing. In fact, Betty bought a new motorcycle in 2003, but had a bad accident while learning to drive it. Because of this, she underwent major knee surgery in June 2003, which forced her into early retirement. In 2005, Betty began another battle when she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and underwent chemotherapy treatment. Throughout her illness, Betty was always strong and never gave up hope. In June 2007, she attended the wedding of her oldest granddaughter Chelsy. She was feeling well and enjoyed fellowship with her family and friends, but sadly died in her daughters home in Mississippi on December 10, 2007.

Betty was a woman full of life and enjoyed every breath. Through work and play, hardship and illness, she never lost sight of the things in life that truly mattered. Her sincere enthusiasm and honest approach to life was contagious and it increased the lives of those around her. A loving mother, grandmother, sister and friend, Betty will be dearly missed, yet frequently remembered.

Betty Louise Anderson, age 63, died Monday, December 10, 2007. She is survived by her son, Nathaniel (Carrie) Anderson of FL; 1 daughter, Laura (Milton) Chittenden of MS; 7 grandchildren: Chelsy, Kyle, Heather, Seth, Abby, Jacob & Kaitlyn; 2 sisters, Phyllis (Dave) Dayton of NY and twin sister, Bonnie (Wayne) Squire of Grand Haven; 1 brother, Tom (Helen) Sickman of NJ; former husband, Gilbert Anderson; mother-in-law, Marietta Johnson of MN; several nieces & nephews. She was preceded in death by her first husband, Steven Johnson. Funeral services for Betty will be held on Saturday, December 15, at 2:00 p.m. at Clock Chapel, Clock Life Story Funeral Home, Grand Haven, with Rev. Dan Smith officiating. Interment at Lakeshore Cemetery. Friends and relatives may visit with her family on Friday, December 14, from 5-8 p.m. the funeral home. Memorial contributions may be made to International Aid.

Tributes