Betty Lou Miller
Betty Lou Miller, 91, of Charleroi, passed away Friday, July 2, 2021. She was born October 30, 1929, in Bentleyville, to Mike “Mack” Molek and Mary Lopushansky Molek.
Betty was a devoted mother, a child-care provider, and a tireless worker. She was known to say whatever came into her mind, which often got a laugh.
Betty was the third oldest of 16 children raised on a farm near Bentleyville. As a child, she helped care for her younger siblings. At age 15, Betty went to work as a live-in nanny for a Pittsburgh doctor until 1948, with the last six months in Manhattan after the doctor’s transfer. She had wonderful memories of those teenage years caring for the doctor’s children while seeing Pittsburgh and then New York.
Betty was Catholic. She really admired Pope John Paul II, the first pope from Poland.
In 1951, Betty married Francis “Frank” E. Miller Jr. They had two children, David A. Miller (Diane) and Richard E. Miller, who survive. Betty and Frank divorced in the early ’60s.
From 1948 until 1970, Betty pressed clothes in dry cleaners in Charleroi and Monessen. In 1970, Betty landed a job at Monongahela Hospital, which later became Mon Valley Hospital (MVH). She worked at MVH, primarily in the kitchen, until retiring at age 69.
Betty had several friends from her generation, including a few former co-workers at MVH. She really enjoyed seeing or talking with them by phone after retirement. Betty was a devoted mother and her children always came first in her life’s decisions. She also babysat often for neighbors and family. She had fond memories for the young children she watched. Betty enjoyed listening to polka, country, and the early rock and roll music. She also liked to sew, attend bingo, and photograph and videotape family. She had an incredible memory for the important dates in her family including her grandparents, the late Andrew and Anna Kinsek Molek and Stephen and Kathryn Holuk Lopushansky. Betty’s parents were from families almost as large as hers.
In addition to her sons, Betty is survived by her daughter-in-law, Diane Rush Miller; her stepgranddaughter, Jenna Zihmer; her sisters, Judith Stringhill, Marjorie Gibino (Joseph) and Verna Molek; her brothers, Andrew Molek (June), Frank Molek (Bonnie) and Joseph Molek; and 34 nieces and nephews.
Betty was preceded in death by her parents; two infant siblings; her sisters, Rose Lutes, Lillian Zundel, Dolores Galamb and Patricia Leyda Hellman; her brothers, Amos Molek, Mathias “Mok” Molek and John Molek; her godfather, Joseph Squirek; her godmother, Helen G. Mikulas; her son David’s mother-in-law, Ursula Rush; at least 20 uncles and aunts by consanguinity; and eight nieces and nephews.
Thanks to the many caregivers at Mon Valley Hospital, Mon Valley Care Center, Cambridge Hillside, Caring Inc. hospice and others who cared for her in recent years.
Friends will be received from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, July 9, in Greenlee’s Bentleyville Funeral Home, 619 Main Street, Bentleyville, where a blessing service will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday July 10, with the Rev. Edward Yuhas officiating. Burial will follow in Maple Creek Cemetery.
Guestbook and personal condolences may be accessed at www.GreenleeFuneralHome.com.