Elizabeth "Betty" Buchheit Myers, Blue Lake resident and wonderful mother, grandmother and great grandmother, passed away on November 13, 2009 in Minocqua, WI. She was 91 years of age and recently preceded in death by her husband Dr. Vernon Work Myers. Elizabeth Perkins Buchheit was born on December 28, 1917 in Chicago, the youngest daughter of Dr. Albert ("Doc")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 independance. 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, IL and earned a degree in biology in 1940. During World War II, she was commissioned an officer in the Navy and after completing training at Smith College in Northhampton, 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. Betty later earned a master's degree in Wildlife Management from The Pennsylvania State University, where her husband was a professor of physics. In 1961, when her husband won a Fulbright fellowship to teach in the Philippines, Betty seized an opportunity to take her five young children on an around the world adventure through many parts of Asia and Europe. Upon returning home to the United States, Betty ultimately became a profesor in the Biology Department at Montgomery College in Rockville, Maryland, where she headed the college's ecological studies program. Every spring, she led an environmental studies field camp class in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Since the early 1920's, Betty vacationed in Minocqua, Wisconsin. The Buchheit family was one of the first to settle on beautiflu 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. In the late 1980's, Betty and Vernon permanently moved to Blue Lake from their home in Rockville, Maryland to pursue their mutual affection for nature and the outdoors. A pasionette advocate for the environment, Betty was a founding member of the Blue Lake Preservation Association and worked diligently to protect water quality. Her goal was to ensure a beautiful and healthy environment for future generations. For over twenty years she led Blue Lake's water quality monitoring efforts, as a charter member of the Wisconsin DNR's citizen lake monitoring network. She loved nature and could identify nearly every plant and animal in the north woods. Her enthusiasm for and the understanding of the natural world inspired all who knew her. Betty is honored by her five children, 14 grandchildren, three great-grandchildren, a loving extended family, and her many friends in the Northwoods and around the country. Her family includes son Albert and his wife Mayra Myers, son Vernon "Bucky" and his wife Janine Myers, daughter Mary Myers and her husband Daryl Carrington, daughter Marguerite "Peggy" Myers and her husband Tim Onofryton, and daughter Elisabeth "Betsy" Myers and her husband Hamied Rezazadeh. In addition, her grandchildren Natasha and her husband Jorge Pereira, Roberto and his wife Maria Myers, Rose Marie and her husband Jonathan Mayo, Timothy Myers, Jason Myers, Christy Myers, Vernon "Bucky" Myers, Elizabeth Myers, Jaspar Carrington, Ian Carrington, Katharine Onofryton, Daniel Onofryton, Alexandra Rezazadeh, and Mikhail Rezazadeh, as well as her great grandchildren Sofia Pereira, William Pereira, and Santiago Myers will cherish her memory. She is also survived by Marjorie Burns, the beloved niece of her late husband Vernon. A funeral service is scheduled for December 12, 2009 at 11:00 AM at the St. Matthias Episcopal Church in Minocqua. A memorial celebration commemorating Betty's life will be held this summer. For those that have internet access and would like to make a personal donation in memory of Elizabeth Myers, please see the following World Wildlife Fund webpage: http://secure.worldwildlife.org/forms/2.o/support_wwf.cfm?fm=M or send your gift directly to her son Vernon Myers, Trustee, 135 South Adams Street, Rockville, MD 20850; myers.vernon@epa.gov. The Carlson Funeral Home (715-369-1414/www.carlsonfh.com) is handling the arrangements for the Myers family.
|
