We celebrate the life of Elizabeth “Bettye” Johnson,79 – loving mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and friend who passed away on October 27, 2004, after a lengthy illness. She was born in Louisville, Kentucky on February 26, 1925, to Alice Wood Crowder and Charles Walter Crowder.
She grew up in Evansville, Indiana. During her young womanhood she waited for her high school sweetheart, Edward George Ploeger, to come home from the Pacific Theater of Action during World War II. Upon his return, they married in 1946 and moved several times before settling in Dallas.
After her husband’s death, she met and married Martin Johnson in 1960, who moved her and her three small children to Beaumont. After her second husband’s death, she continued to live in the family home until three years ago when she moved into the Ridgewood Retirement Center.
Bettye earned her degree in business from Evansville University during the war years. After her first husband’s death she was instrumental in forming Dallas’ first women’s investment group. After she moved to Beaumont, she attended Lamar State College of Technology where she earned a B. S. in Education. She taught special education for over twenty-five years before retiring. Her care, talent, and love helped inspire several generations of special needs children.
She is survived by her children, Lisa Ploeger Mitchell and her husband Woodrow of Keller, Texas, Kurt Edward Ploeger of Beaumont, and Kristina Ploeger Busceme and her husband George of Beaumont; her stepdaughter, Patricia Marlene Thames and her husband Woody of Dallas. She has seven grandchildren, Kristen Herring, Alison Mitchell, Ellen Busceme, John Martin Busceme, Shannon Ploeger, Beth Dougles, and Courtney Reis. In addition, Bettye is survived by four great grandchildren and numerous friends around the country. Other survivors are two sisters, Allison Kasey of Evansville, Indiana and Dennison Vannett of Florida.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated 10:00 a.m. Saturday, October 30, 2004 at St. Anne Catholic Church followed by burial at Magnolia Cemetery under the direction of Broussard’s, 2000 McFaddin, Beaumont. A gathering of family and friends will be Friday evening, October 29, 2004 from 5:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. at the mortuary.
In lieu of floral arrangements, contributions may be made to Burns Institute Galveston Unit, Shriners Hospital for Crippled Children, 815 Market Street, Galveston, Texas.
