Mary Elizabeth “Betty” Dixon Cronquist passed away Saturday, January 23, 2016, at The White Sulphur Springs Family Center in White Sulphur Springs, WV.
Betty was born in 1913 to Benjamin Franklin and Mae Dixon of White Sulphur Springs.
Betty grew up as a member of St. Thomas Episcopal Church and graduated from White Sulphur High School, Class of 1930. She then attended Greenbrier College for Women in Lewisburg, WV. Betty was the last surviving member of her high school class.
Betty lived through many historic events growing up in White Sulphur Springs before World War I during the Depression and through World War II. Her carefree sporting life was interspersed with challenges when she became a nurse’s aide at Ashford General Hospital at The Greenbrier. She counted among her memorable moments a meeting with World War I General Jack Pershing. Betty was present for the visits of many subsequent dignitaries who came to the hotel, including presidents, heads of state, diplomats, and movie stars.
She served as a volunteer Girl Scout leader, whose ingenuity and pioneer sense of adventure made her Scout trips to Blue Bend memorable. Betty attributed her formidable dressmaking skills to her home economics teacher Mrs. Crickenberger. A lifetime of remarkable sewing ensued. A strict grammarian and devotee of Shakespeare, Betty was able to quote from his work until her death. She was an accomplished gardener and a student of nutrition and healthy living long before it become fashionable.
Well-traveled, Betty embarked upon a university-sponsored trip around the world at the age of 85. Having lived in California, Florida, New York, and North Carolina, her journeys back to White Sulphur Springs were well-chronicled by Pet Sullivan in her newspaper column, “Saunterings.” Betty was proudest of her Greenbrier County, WV, roots and spent part of each year at her farm on the Alvon-Blue Bend Road. She took great care to pass that Mountaineer spirit and appreciation on to her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.
In addition to her parents, Betty was preceded in death by her husband, Nils Russell Cronquist; and sister, Mrs. John C. Vaughan II.
She is survived by her son, Russell Dixon Cronquist and wife, Suzanne, of Alexandria, VA, and White Sulphur Springs; daughter, Mary Elizabeth Fentress of Raleigh, NC, and Lewisburg; grandsons, Brandon Duke Fentress and wife, Kendrick, of Raleigh, John Dixon Fentress of Jupiter, FL, and Meriwether Hill Fentress of Raleigh; and great-grandchildren, William Dixon, James Cleveland, and John Dixon II, all of Raleigh.
There will be a private interment.
Shanklin Funeral Home in White Sulphur Springs is serving the family.
Obituary originally published in the January 28, 2016, edition of The West Virginia Daily News.
