Betty Jane Kreager
September 13, 1927 - May 9, 2018
Obituary
Betty Jane (Shell) Kreager, 90, lived a rich life marked by love, laughter, generosity and culture. Born in Barcelona, Spain, Betty was raised in Kentucky before moving to the Northwest and attended the University of Idaho at Moscow. She married Robert L. Shell and raised two children, Robert “Bob”, and Sandra. Later, as a single parent working at a bank; she rose professionally within the organization.
In 1974, Betty married the love of her life, legendary Seattle business leader H. Dewayne Kreager—one of the driving forces behind the 1962 Seattle Worlds’ Fair. The couple lived in Magnolia and traveled the world extensively. She was known for her love of family and generosity; her happiest moments were large family dinners hosted in her home surrounded by those she loved.
Betty supported her deep love of the arts with philanthropy and service. A former ballet dancer, Betty was a founding member of the Pacific Northwest Ballet (PNB) League, serving several terms as President, as well as on PNB’s Governing Board of Trustees. Small in height but towering in presence, Betty was a well-known figure in Seattle’s philanthropic and social circles, as a longtime subscriber, member or attendee of the Seattle Symphony, Seattle Opera, Seattle Art Museum, the Rainier Club, and Broadmoor Country Club. She was also a past president and member of a Seattle Children’s Guild. A donor to Washington State University, her late husband’s alma mater, she attended games and events later in life with longtime companion Dr. Stan Coe DVM.
Betty passed peacefully surrounded by family. Betty is preceded in death by her sister Velma, brother Glenn, son Robert, and husband Dewayne. Betty is survived by her brother Leslie Cox and wife Corrine, daughter Sandra Rook, grandsons Michael and Jeffrey Rook, great-grandchildren Liam, Anderson and Keaton, nephew Leslie Cox and his wife Marita and their children Courtney and Leslie III, step-sons Phillip and Bill Kreager, and many extended family. Services will be held at Bonnie-Watson Capitol Hill Funeral Home 1732 Broadway , Seattle WA, 98122 on June 2, 2018 at 11:00 am . Remembrances in honor of Betty may be made to Pacific Northwest Ballet.
My deepest condolences to the family, may beautiful memories and our savior words provide you with comfort, john 5;28, 29
Dear Sandra,
Sending you and your boys hugs on the loss of your dear mother.
Love
Nancy
A wonderful friend both in Spokane and in Seattle, we had so many good times together. Smart, elegant and loving in nature—so glad to have known her. We will miss her. Best to her family.
Here’s a poem from Henry Van Dyke:
Gone From My Sight
I am standing upon the seashore. A ship, at my side,
spreads her white sails to the moving breeze and starts
for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength.
I stand and watch her until, at length, she hangs like a speck
of white cloud just where the sea and sky come to mingle with each other.
Then, someone at my side says, “There, she is gone.”
Gone where?
Gone from my sight. That is all. She is just as large in mast,
hull and spar as she was when she left my side.
And, she is just as able to bear her load of living freight to her destined port.
Her diminished size is in me — not in her.
And, just at the moment when someone says, “There, she is gone,”
there are other eyes watching her coming, and other voices
ready to take up the glad shout, “Here she comes!”
And that is dying…
sheron and joe