Betty L. Chukas, beloved wife, mother, grandmother and friend passed away on July 18, 2024.
Betty was born June 2, 1925, in Olin, Iowa, the daughter of Alfred and Clara Freese Pruess. She was raised on a farm with her two sisters, Juanita and Dorothy, and one brother, Joe.
After graduating from Olin High School in 1943, she moved to California to work and to enjoy the California lifestyle. She later moved back to Iowa where she was located in Cedar Rapids. She went to work for the Quaker Oats Company in the Training Office where she worked from 1946 – 1954.
She met her husband, Tom, in 1946, and after a whirlwind romance, they were married on August 3, l948, in St. Louis with her sister, Dort, and her husband, Merle, in attendance. They raised one son, Rick, currently living in Nashville with his wife, Julie, and their children Alexandra and Nick.
During the late 1950’s and the early 1960’s, Betty, together with Tom and Rick, enjoyed boating and spent many weekends together with friends on the lake. Betty loved water skiing and Tom appropriately named their boat the “Betty Lou”. After being introduced to the game of golf in the mid-1960’s, Betty and Tom became very active in the Cedar Rapids golf community. There was rarely a weekend or a Friday afternoon where Betty and Tom weren’t seen on the golf course. Betty was active in the Elmcrest Country Club Women’s Golf Association and she won numerous awards and tournaments while playing in events in the greater Cedar Rapids area.
In 1988 Betty and Tom moved to Arizona and to a climate more in-keeping with a golfing lifestyle. Betty enjoyed the acclimation to desert golf and again became actively involved with her local Women’s Golf Association. Her days were filled with time with her friends, playing cards, sewing, going for walks and being with family. She and Tom traveled extensively with their golf groups around the state of Arizona as well as surrounding states. The opportunity to travel and to play a variety of different golf courses was always something Betty relished.
Betty particularly enjoyed traveling to Nashville to visit Rick, Julie and family. She enjoyed numerous family vacations with “the kids” that involved the beach and golf. Whether at Hilton Head Island, Amelia Island, or other places on the southeastern U.S. coast, Betty always had fun. She and Tom also got together often with relatives in Arizona; namely her brother, Joe (Pam), her niece, Lanette (Bob), to whom Betty was a second mom, and other nieces and a nephew. Betty always said that it was great to have relatives around – especially at holiday time.
Betty was preceded in death by her husband, Tom, her parents and her sisters.
She is survived by her son, Rick (Julie); grandchildren, Alexandra and Nick; brother, Joe (Pam); sister-in-law, Evangeline Claude; and nieces and nephews.
Betty’s family would like to extend a sincere “thank you” to the caring family Betty grew to love and enjoy at The Heritage at Brentwood during the past 7 years. The staff members there touched her in many caring ways and undoubtedly received the same from her.
A Celebration of Life will be held at a later date among her family and friends when her ashes will be placed alongside Tom’s at Paradise Memorial Gardens Mausoleum in Scottsdale, AZ.
Gifts in memory of Betty may be made to the First Tee at firsttee.org/donate/.
To leave a condolence, or share a memory of Betty, please visit the Tribute Wall. https://www.austinfuneralservice.com
For more obituaries visit https://williamsonsource.com/obituaries/
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