Gates – 5/8/1920-1/30/2018. The Lord reached out his loving arms to embrace Bettie Curry after a brief time in hospice care at Unity Hospital following a sudden illness. Her death capped a nearly 98-year life of service, devotion, and joy. She was born Elizabeth Lenore Wilker in Cleveland, Ohio to Friedrich and Viola (Hundertmark) Wilker, the youngest of three children. She graduated in 1939 from the Vogue School of Fashion Art in Chicago and became a highly skilled dressmaker. She married Robert (Bob) Norris Curry on January 3, 1941 and settled in Chili in 1952, where she was a founding member of the preschool program at the Lutheran Church of Our Saviour. She was a fixture in the life of Gates-Chili for over six decades of service to her community, teaching night school classes in sewing and tailoring at Gates Chili High School, and serving in leadership positions in the service of her church. She was widowed May 24, 1986 after 45 years of marriage to Bob Curry, the love of her life, and never remarried. She ran a dressmaking business out of her home on Westside Drive for many years, renowned for the ability to create a wedding dress based only on a magazine picture. Her bridge game was second to none; she was never afraid to try something new or have fun. In addition to her family, community, and church, Bettie was singularly devoted to her friends who seemed to increase in number even as she outlived so many. As the snow-haired matriarch of the Curry family, she maintained her legendary independence until the age of 95, when she moved to The Villages in Greece. There she has lived well in outgoing Christian witness of love and care for others. She was a fashion-forward entrepreneuse, and an alto-singing, pie-baking, butterfly-loving, garden-growing mom, grandma, and great-grandma whose life had many joys, but greatest among these was her family; she raised three children, Robert W. (Bob), Pamela J. (Pam), and Kenneth D. (Ken) and had five grandchildren: Scott, Ryan and Laurel Curry, Jared and Nicholas Davis. She is predeceased by her brothers Frederic (Fred) and Karl Wilker, and survived by her three children, five grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.
Friends and family are invited to call Friday, March 9th from 4-7pm at the Leo M. Bean and Sons Funeral Home. All are welcome to join the family for coffee at the Lutheran Church of Our Saviour, 2415 Chili Ave. Saturday, March 10th at 10am preceding her Memorial Service at 11am. A brief reception will immediately follow the service at the church, followed by her interment at Grove Place Cemetery at 1pm.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to the Lutheran Church of Our Savior Belltower Fund, 2415 Chili Ave; Rochester, NY 14624.
