Elizabeth Wilson Obituary

Elizabeth H. Grocott Wilson

Feb. 5, 1932 - April 14, 2022

Elizabeth H. (Betty, Betts) Grocott Wilson passed away peacefully at the age of 90 on April 14, 2022 in Vancouver, Washington.

Elizabeth was born in Olympia, Washington on February 5, 1932 to John H and Madeline G. Archer Grocott. A great scholar, Elizabeth graduated from R.A. Long High School in 1950 and went on to earn a B.A. from Western Washington College of Education and an M.A. from Stanford University.

In 1957, she married Laurence E. (Larry) Wilson, a Ph.D. chemist and soon-to-be professor. The Wilsons lived for a few years in Amherst, Massachusetts, and San Jose, California, before settling in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Betty briefly taught home economics before her children arrived and she devoted herself full-time to home and family.

The couple eventually divorced, and Betty returned to Washington. While living in Seattle, Betty served in the field of in-home elder care. She also spent a few summers working in Olympic National Park, Denali National Park and others. She retired to her birthplace, Olympia and spent the last few years in Vancouver, near her oldest son, Clifford J. Wilson. Cliff visited her often and tended to her needs. Her other son and her daughter-in-law, David Keith and Nancy DeKimpe Wilson of Lyme, New Hampshire, supplied her with cell phones and talked with her frequently. She also kept in touch with her brother and sister-in-law, David and Mellicent (Millie) Becker Grocott of Longview; her sister, Sandra (Sandy) Kure Shaw of San Marcos, California and her daughter, Sharon L. Wilson of Renton, Washington.

Betty was exceptionally curious and observant. She enjoyed her daily devotionals, church attendance, classical music, birdwatching, baking, history, and literature. She could bake without a recipe, name the composer and title of almost any piece of classical music, and tell you all about Lord Baltimore, Lewis and Clark, and countless other figures in U.S. and world history. If you were playing Trivial Pursuit, you would want her on your team to answer the history and literature questions. Right up to the end of her life, she could recite long passages of poetry from memory.

Betty was preceded in death by her former husband, Larry, and her older sister, Dawn James. She is survived by Dave /& Millie, Sandy, Cliff, Sharon, Keith /& Nancy and their children: Daniel, David, and Abigail.