Betty Lou Crosley

Betty Lou (Weatherford) Crosley, 93, of Fishers – beloved wife, mother, sister, grandma, aunt, cousin, and friend – went home to Jesus on December 22^nd, 2023, surrounded by family.

Betty was born June 21, 1930, in Anderson, Indiana to Ruby Mae (Buchanan) and Ira Weatherford, the 11^th of 12 children of an Indiana farm family.  She was a graduate of Pendleton High School where she was an active member of many school organizations, including as a baton twirler with the marching band.  Her remarkable beauty and overwhelming joy caught the attention (and held it firmly for 68 years) of the boy who would become her high school sweetheart and husband, Gene Crosley.  They married in 1952, and started their life in Fort Breckenridge, Kentucky where Gene served in the U.S. Army.    After the Army, Gene began a coaching career that would span more than 40 years and include five sports with four different schools across central, southern, and northern Indiana.  Through it all, the secret to Gene’s tremendous success as a coach was due, in large part, to the fun-loving, joy-bringing, always-laughing but tough-as-nails farm girl by his side.  During the last 20 years of their career, at Homestead High School in Fort Wayne, Betty was a bookkeeper for Southwest Allen County Schools.  But more than helping with coaching or working, Betty was a world class, elite home and family maker.  The mother of five children, she never missed a game that Gene coached, or a game, recital, choir concert, or event that one of her children was participating in.  After games, student players, family, and friends almost always gathered at the Crosley home, where Betty would have cookies, treats, and laughter ready for all.  She and Gene retired in 1991 and moved to Fairfield Glade, Tennessee where they spent 22 very active years golfing, gardening, enjoying the mountains, making new friends, and frequent grandparenting – including many camping trips with grandchildren in tow.  It was commonplace for former players to call on Betty and Gene, even after their retirement, to express their gratitude to Coach Gene for his guidance and to Betty, for her undying support and care for them.  They hosted family as often as they possibly could – including for Thanksgiving dinner that moved with them to Tennessee and became an annual pilgrimage for the family, with dinner often swelling to 30 people, and a weeklong whirlwind for Betty in the kitchen.  She was involved with each of the churches where they lived and participated actively in outreach to nursing homes and local schools.  She also became an avid quilter and made quilts for each of her children on their 40th birthday.  Anyone who ever met her, knew her infectious laugh, including a ready willingness to laugh at herself – a trait that made her so beloved among her family and friends.  She loved to tease, joke, and pull pranks on her family, something she got from her mom.  It was a very rare visit with Betty that didn’t include belly-holding laughter and joyful tears.  But she would also mix in wisdom and sentiment from her years of parenting and grandparenting, telling her daughters, daughters-in-law, and nieces who were moms that they “couldn’t have both spotless homes and children” or “grow both flowers and kids” – helping them understand that it was okay not to have a perfect house and that the family was what was worth spending time on.  True to that sentiment, in 2013, she and Gene moved back to Fishers to be near family.  Her youthful exuberance never waned and even into her 90s, she would often be so excited by coming family events, like Christmas, that she could not sleep the night before the gatherings.  After her husband Gene passed away in 2020, she leaned heavily on her family and her hope and faith in Jesus to carry her through – and she eagerly anticipated the day when she would go Home to be with Gene and Jesus.  Betty is already terribly missed by her surviving children, Denise (Herb) Gaunt, Brian (Cathy) Crosley, Rodney (Teri) Crosley, Kim Crosley, and Stan (Melisa) Crosley; grandchildren, Heather (Matt) Stultz, Josh (Casey) Gaunt, Sarah Crosley, Katie (Gavin) Beem, Christopher (Christina) Crosley, Brandon (Areli) Crosley, Jordan Crosley, Rachel (Sam) Lyons, Abigail (Nate) Dehmlow, and Jacob Crosley; ten great grandchildren, and by innumerable nieces and nephews from both sides of her large and thriving family.  She was preceded in death by her beloved husband Gene, her parents, and her eleven siblings.  Betty and Gene were members of Fishers United Methodist Church.  Visitation will be held Saturday, December 30^th at 10am – noon, followed by a service at Wilson St. Pierre Funeral Service and Crematory, Lahm Chapel, Pendleton.  Burial will follow in Grove Lawn Cemetery, Pendleton. In lieu of flowers donations may be made to Fishers United Methodist Church food pantry, or a charity of your choice in Betty’s name.

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