Obituaries

Ellen Betty Sogolow was born on November 23, 1944 on Thanksgiving morning in Chicago, Illinois.
She was the only child of Paul & Pearl Sogolow, both of Russian descent – Pearl born in Minsk, and Paul born in Chicago just before the turn of the century.
In the late 1940’s, it was suggested that Paul escape the cold weather in Chicago to aid with his health problems, and the Sogolow family moved to Florida for a short time. When they found that Florida wasn’t the right place for them, they then moved to California shortly thereafter.
Betty met Dick while they were still in high school, initially years before they actually started dating. They became friends, and when she was available, Dick shared that he’d always had a thing for her, and whisked her off her feet with his kindness. He knew right away he wanted to marry her, and told her so.
Betty and Dick were married in a simple wedding ceremony on February 18, 1968. There were no guests and no pictures because of an accident Betty got in going to pick up her wedding dress.
Just about two years later, one of Betty’s crowning achievements was born, and on March 7th, 1970, Betty and Dick found themselves first time parents to Geri Anne. 26 months later, their son Scott was born.
Throughout the 70’s and 80’s, Betty and Dick raised their kids, with Betty being a good mother and doing as all the mom’s did: Carpool, camp & sports.
In the 90’s she took on more work, and became deeply passionate about her role and contribution to a business in which Betty and Dick were principals. She got recruited to work for many other companies as well. She thrived for many years and won awards for her innovation. She worked until her mid-fifties, and became renowned for her inventiveness and understanding of what the market needed.
At age 53, a new phase in Betty’s life began, and with that, a new passion: Her first grandson, Jack was born, and soon after that came Luke. She babysat, picked up, and spent time teaching, loving and cheering them on in sports, school and life.
Betty got cancer for the first time when she was around 56. It was a very sad time, but she was actually at her best fighting for her life. She was positive and ready to win. After she beat it, she then had to fight off a number of ailments that followed on.
From her 20’s to her 60’s Betty was always crocheting – partly because it was a creative outlet, and partly because she never could keep her hands idle after she quit smoking. In her 50’s, she took that energy and worked for the charity, Stiches from Heart, where she donated many of her handmade originals.
In 2008, on the 40th anniversary of their first wedding, Betty and Dick remarried in a ceremony and finally had their friends and family there to see them get married. It was a joyous event and fun was had by all.
Throughout the years, Betty always relied upon her friends. She had one for almost 65 years, and had many for over 40 years.
Her friends say Betty was like the Giving Tree as she would notice if someone liked something and would buy it for them, or give it to them out of her closet. She was always giving of herself, and made herself available as an on-call hairdresser, stylist and decorator. She was like a traveling doctor of artistic skills, and did it for the love of her friends.
In the end, it was the cancer that got her. It started with something odd in her cheek, then spread throughout her body. She fought… and gave it a solid try to beat the odds once again. But this fight wasn’t able to be won.
She laid her head to rest for a final time on the morning of August 5th, 2016.