Daily Press (Newport News, VA) - Wednesday, March 29, 2006
On March 27, 2006, Betty Alford passed away after a short illness. She died peacefully, surrounded by many of her loved ones.
Betty had a great deal of family to be surrounded by, and she loved nothing better than to be with as many of them as often as possible. She survived five husbands and is survived by fifteen adult children and twenty grandchildren. Betty embraced everyone in this large, mixed family including their spouses, friends and pets.
Daughter of Frank Lincoln and Naomi Wenger Frost, Betty was born January 12, 1934, raised in Wilmington, Del. and graduated from Wilmington Friends School. She attended Bradford Junior College in Boston and Cornell Nursing School in New York City. She moved with her first husband, Dr. Kenneth Baldwin to Newport News, where he practiced obstetrics until his untimely death in 1966. A short time later, she married Mr. Hunter Creech, Vice President and General Counsel of Newport News Shipbuilding and moved to "Quarter Marsh", a small farm in York County. There Betty raised seven children, managing up to five teenagers in the house at any one time as well as a menagerie of animals, including horses, chickens, goats and the occasional housebroken skunk. She and Mr. Creech later built a house on Back Creek in Dandy, "Heron Hall." After his death in 1983, Betty married Dr. Bill Watkins, a retired dermatologist, and continued to enjoy boating and fishing in Dandy. After Dr. Watkin's death in 1993, Betty married Dr. Howard Mirmelstein, a retired dentist, moving between houses in Dandy and Kingsmill. After Dr. Mirmelstein died in 1999, Betty married Dr. Crandall Alford, a retired surgical oncologist, maintaining her Dandy house and spending winters in Naples, Florida. Dr. Alford died in 2003.
Betty's family was her central focus, but she kept up a wide span of interests, from refinishing antiques, to collecting art, to fly-tying, to her latest passion: collecting North American taxidermy specimens. She shared her talents and interests generously, always eager to bait a grandchild's hook or fish her crab pots for a family gathering. Her happiest times were hosting these family gatherings, full of food, drink, laughter and stories. She was the heart of this extended, extensive and eclectic family, and our loss is immeasurable.
Survivors include: Kathy and Jack Richardson and their children, John and Erin; Nancy and Terry Mularkey and their children, Jack, McKay and Taylor; Leslie and Scott Goetsch and their children, Emily and Ben; Carol and Rone Baldwin and their daughters, Jane and Grace; Carol and Jerry Frishman and their son, Aaron; Sharon and Clark Baldwin and their children, Max and Peyton; Tracy and Hunter Creech and their daughters, Kelsey and Haley; Maggie and Gary Bohlken; Lynn and Butch Watkins and their daughters, Emily and Elsa; Kam and Ron Lemberger and their son, Mats; Ross Mirmelstein; Susan Alford; Dena and Ted Alford; Cindy and Tully Alford and their daughter, Madeline; Regan and Bill Forrester and their daughters, Tully and Penn.
A graveside service will be held at 3 p.m. on Friday, March 31, 2006 in Peninsula Memorial Park.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial donations be made in Betty's honor to the Williams Syndrome Association, P.O. Box 297, Clawson, MI 48017-0297.
Peninsula Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Betty Mirmelstein Alford Edition: Final
Page: C6
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