Carole Ann Betz
Carole Ann Betz (nee Van Cooley)
Passed away on November 18th, 2024. Carole was the devoted wife of Edward R. “Dick” Betz, who preceded her in death in August of this same year. Mother to five children, grandmother of eleven and great-grandmother of three.
Over 64 years of marriage Carole and Dick made homes for their family in two countries and six states, and wherever life took them she embraced the community in which she lived, made friends, joined clubs and filled her house with music and the smell of good food cooking.
A classically trained vocalist, she performed with the Ford Motor Company Chorus at Expo ‘67 in Montreal, Canada, as well as singing in church choirs and performing in amateur theater productions. Along with her husband she earned a private pilot’s license and joined the family on trips to fly-in breakfasts in their Piper airplane. She and Dick traveled extensively and maintained a network of friendships across the U.S. and in Europe and Canada, but perhaps her favorite place was their lake cottage in Quebec. At least once a year the extended family would make the pilgrimage to Lac Beauclair to swim and walk and paddle and enjoy Nana’s cooking. After seeing her children start their own lives she returned to the workforce, working for ten years in various administrative and executive support roles. Later in life she took up painting and drawing, hobbies which gave her much peace.
She is survived by her five children and their spouses, Mark (Michele), Richard (Cathy), Catherine (John), Patricia and James (Kristin), eleven grandchildren, Emily, Julia, Sarah, Matthew, Christopher, Olivia, AnneMarie, Caroline, Cecelia, Laura and Lena, and three great grandchildren, Carson, Ivy and Levi. We will all miss her very much.
A funeral service will be held for Carole at Saint Simon Roman Catholic Church in Ludington, Michigan on Saturday, December 14th at 2 PM. Friends and relatives are invited to join.