Betty Jeane George

Betty Jeane George, 101, died Wednesday, May 27, 2026, at Lanfair Altercare in Lancaster, Ohio. She was born to Harry J. Rowe and Clara Schreller Rowe in Toledo, Ohio, on September 9, 1924, and spent her first ten years with Maumee Bay in her front yard in Point Place. Then her family moved to Columbus, Ohio, and they spent summers at an Indian Lake cottage.

She graduated from East High School at 16, where she met the love of her life, Albert Lloyd George. After graduation, Betty was a secretary for an attorney whose office was on the 32nd floor of the AIU Building, now known as the LeVeque Tower. Lloyd was stationed in Corpus Christi, Texas, for training as a Navy pilot. In 1944, Betty took a train from Columbus to Corpus Christi to marry Lloyd. They lived in an apartment near the Gulf of Mexico until Lloyd was sent to Atlanta, Georgia, where they lived briefly until he was stationed in Hawaii. Betty came back to Columbus.

They had their first two children in Columbus and then moved to Lloyd’s hometown, Lancaster, Ohio, where their third child was born. Betty was a stay-at-home mom until their eldest went to college, and she returned to work as a secretary and office manager in municipal and then juvenile court. While in municipal court, along with an attorney, she started the Fairfield County Small Claims Court.

From the time she was a child, her life goal was to be a mother, and she became a wonderful one. She swept snow to make a clear path to the school bus, baked cookies early in the morning so that she could pack them in lunches, and, along with Lloyd, made her children her priority. She was a mom to the end, encouraging, supporting, and giving them love and lots of laughs through the years.

She loved the sun and water, reading, cooking, houseplants, and traveling. When the children were young, she and Lloyd, on very little money, took them camping all over the country and in Canada. Eventually, they bought a trailer and then a small motor home. In retirement, they spent cold weather in Florida and summers at their cabin on Lake Matinenda in Northern Ontario, taking their dogs and cats with them.

After Lloyd’s death, each spring, Betty flew to Texas and spent time with her son Tom, his wife Kathy, and their son Henry (Hank). They always went to the beach on the Gulf of Mexico for a week. She also traveled with her daughter and dogs to the Great Smoky Mountains several times a year to visit friends. One especially memorable trip included her son Bob and daughter-in-law Becky K, along with her daughter Becky and dear friends Bill and Bonnie Gathergood, who treated her as if she were their mom. In later years, she moved into assisted living, where her children tried to make sure that at least one of them visited every day.

Betty is survived by her daughter Becky; son, Robert (Becky); grandsons, Hank and Craig (Christy); great-grandson, Tyler; daughter-in-law, Kathy, and her niece, Barbara (Babsy) McLucas. Betty was preceded in death by her parents; her husband (after 55 years of marriage); her brother, Robert Rowe; and her son, Thomas.

The family would like to thank the staff at LanFair, Carroll Place, and Absolute Hospice for the loving care and attention they gave to Betty.

A funeral service will take place on Monday, June 1, 2026, at 1 pm, at the Frank E. Smith Funeral Home Chapel with Pastor Laura Price officiating. Friends and family may visit from 11 am until the time of the service. Betty will be laid to rest next to her husband at Floral Hills Memory Gardens following the service.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to Absolute Hospice, 7171 Keck Park Circle, North Canton, OH 44720.