Betty Landrith died Friday, November 15, 2019, in Huntsville. She was 89. She was preceded in death by her parents, J. Robert Kraner and Christine Paulsen Kraner; sister, Lois Morgan; and husband of 63 years, B. Ira Landrith. She is survived by daughter, Patricia Landrith Blackman.
Betty was born in 1930 in Caldwell, Kansas. At Wyandotte High School, she was a member of the National Honor Society and Quill and Scroll International Honor Society for High School Journalists. After graduation she became a secretary at the Marley Corporation in Kansas City, and was soon part of the “Marley Girls” bowling league. Betty met Ira in 1950; their dates included ice skating and badminton. Married in 1951, they moved to Quantico, VA, where Ira trained as an FBI Special Agent. They welcomed daughter Pat the next year in Louisville, KY. The FBI then transferred them to New Jersey, Washington DC, and Wichita.
In 1958 Ira went to work for Sperry Rand Corporation (later UNISYS), and the family transferred to Salt Lake City. Betty played the piano and taught Sunday School at Central Christian Church and served as secretary for the SLC Council of Churches. She became secretary to the chairman of the University of Utah Biochemistry Department and made friends from all over the world among the faculty, staff, and students. She earned “mad money” and learned medical terminology typing graduate students’ theses. That extra income bought tickets to concerts, plays, U of U football games, and membership to the Salt Lake Tennis & Health Club, so she, Ira, and Pat could swim and play tennis there. In 1962 Betty decided to learn to ski; she drove Pat and friends to Solitude, Brighton or Alta each Saturday and put them all – and herself – into lessons.
In 1965 Betty followed Ira to Huntsville, Alabama, when Sperry opened their Space Support Division. She scored higher on Civil Service typing and stenography tests than the examiners had ever seen before. She worked for Kelly Girl, then became a secretary at the NASA Medical Center on Redstone Arsenal, meeting astronauts undergoing tests before and after training in NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Tank. When Dr. Wallace B. Frierson left the NASA facility to open his private practice, she went with him and “ran the front end” (receptionist, secretary, billing clerk) for 20 years. Betty, Ira, and Wally loved to play golf or go bowling; with Pat as a fourth, they played tennis and bridge. Betty enjoyed bicycling around her neighborhood, relishing what an astonished child once said as she pedaled by: “It’s a MOM! On a BICYCLE!”
Betty loved to research lessons for Sunday School classes and women’s circle programs at First Christian Church. She loved to read, bake, and listen to a good sermon. (And she sometimes caught herself “typing” with her toes in church, as if transcribing the preacher’s words.) Over the years, Betty served FCC as deaconess, nursery attendant, Board secretary, assistant Treasurer, and more. She also sponsored children through the Christian Children’s Fund and supported Habitat for Humanity, the Salvation Army, CASA, and Huntsville Little Theatre (now Theatre Huntsville).
Betty was a three-time cancer survivor. After her first mastectomy (1974), when her right arm couldn’t swing a tennis racket, she played left-handed – not as adeptly, but enthusiastically – and volunteered with Reach to Recovery (American Cancer Society). A second mastectomy (1991) hindered her golf game but reinforced her determination to stay active. Ovarian cancer surgery and chemo (2008) took a toll, but her “attitude of gratitude” held firm.
Betty had a sweet tooth and loved good food. She loved the dogs – mutt and purebred alike – that came to her needing a home. She loved watching tennis and other sports on television. She liked getting to know people; when she befriended someone, she did so with passion. She liked to laugh and to spend time with those she loved. She was very grateful for her friends and for her caregivers from Home Instead and at Regency Retirement Village.
No services are planned at this time. If you would like to honor Betty’s memory, be generous with your time, talents and resources. Work diligently, play joyfully, cherish your family and friends, and be kind to animals and your fellow human beings. And consider donating to one of her or your favorite charities.
