Betty E. Roe

Betty E. Roe, 89, of Manitowish Waters, died Sunday, September 19, 2021, at Seasons of Life Hospice in Woodruff. Beloved wife of Gaylord Roe and mother of their four children, Betty grew up in southern Minnesota on her family’s farm and graduated from University of Wisconsin Stout, where she met her husband-to-be. After college, she taught home economics at Woodruff High School before she and Gay started their family. For many years she volunteered with area youth as a Vilas County 4-H club leader. At home, Betty proudly worked as bookkeeper for her husband’s contracting business. She also managed an extensive vegetable garden and delighted in cooking and preserving the family food. An expert seamstress, she also loved quilting and crocheting rugs, often making items for her children, and later her grandchildren, and for donation to the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League. In 1974, she was recruited to inaugurate the home economics program at North Lakeland Elementary School and remained there for twenty years, passionately teaching both girls and boys in 5th through 8th grades about nutrition, food, practical skills for the home, and how to cook and sew. She was known for rigor (giving quizzes on fractions to teach dividing and multiplying quantities in recipes, and issuing “drivers’ licenses” for sewing, after students passed an at-the-machine exam) and a sense of humor (when the boys, especially, played practical jokes) in her classes. For her family, she lovingly created all kinds of baked goods, and her cookies, fruit pies—always three, always three different fruits—and cracked-wheat raisin bread were unparalleled. In her retirement, a perfect day for Betty might include immersing herself in a sewing project, making an excursion to pick apples or berries, or identifying the many birds that came by the kitchen window while she baked cookies. She was proud of her entire family and reveled in their growth and accomplishments. She is survived by her dear husband Gaylord, her children Kerrie Seeger, Dennis Roe (Fara), Connie Stampfl (David), and Mileta Roe (Marshall), eleven grandchildren (Ross, Kelsey, Kevin, Chad, Keith, Jeffrey, Erika, Matthew, Ben, Satchel, and Bram), four great grandchildren (Esther, Honna, Kalvin, and Miriam), as well as nieces and nephews (Brenda, David, Audrey, Laura, Ruth, and Angela). A funeral service celebrating her life is scheduled for Saturday, October 2, 2021, 11am, at Faith Lutheran Church in Mercer, WI, with luncheon to follow.

Betty E. Roe

January 24, 1932 - September 19, 2021