Funeral homes often submit obituaries as a service to the families they are assisting. However, we will be happy to accept obituaries from family members pending proper verification of the death.
Betty Louise Dean-McLain-Cronkrite-Meister passed away on June 27, 2022, at the age of 99. Betty was the sixth of eight children of Samuel Leon Dean and Jettie Course-Dean. She was born on Oct. 26, 1922, in Wenatchee, Wash., but grew up in Lyle, Wash., where she graduated from Lyle High School and was valedictorian of her class.
She outlived all her siblings, three husbands and all but one of her children. She was part of the Greatest Generation (1901-1927) also known as the G.I. Generation, and she represented it well — survived the Great Depression, served in the Navy during World War II, grew victory gardens to feed the family, survived to enjoy the economically prosperous times, and participated in the modern era’s rapidly changing technology, including the telephone, radio, and television, and many digital revolutions, including the Internet. She was and will forever be an inspiration to her extended family network.
When the law allowing women to serve in the armed forces passed in 1942, Betty was one of the first to sign up and serve, with honor, in the Navy Waves. She met her first husband, Navy Chief Petty Officer John Arthur McLain, during her service in Hawaii, where she served from 1942-1945. She and John moved to The Dalles, Ore., and had three sons, John Arthur Jr., Stacy James and Scott Randall. After her divorce from John, she also married and divorced Richard Cronkrite and moved to California. Her third husband, Lester Meister, MD, died in 1996 after having moved to Coos Bay, Ore.
Betty had a varied career as an executive secretary and retired as a VA hospital ward administrator. She was an avid rockhound, and turned her love of lapidary into masterpieces of stained-glass lamps and window art.
She and Lester lived in Coos Bay for more than 30 years, where she was active in the VFW in Coos Bay/North Bend, and in the Far West Lapidary and Gem Society there. She moved to Wilsonville, Ore., after her two younger sons passed away, to be closer to her surviving son, John, and his wife Cathi. She is survived by eight grandchildren, many great-grandchildren, and one great-great grandchild.
A memorial service at Lyle-Balch Cemetery in Lyle is being planned for October, on or near her 100th birthday. Remembrances can be made to the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) in the name of Betty Louise Dean Meister, online at vfw.org (click on DONATE).
To plant a tree in memory of Betty Meister as a living tribute, please visit Tribute Store.
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