Elizabeth Atwood (Crouch) Thulin, 95, died peacefully on September 4, 2015, in Wayland, Massachusetts.
Betty was born in 1919 in Scranton, Pennsylvania, to Harrison Winthrop Crouch, and Myrtie Sherburne Atwood. She and her dear brother Harrison grew up in Worcester, Massachusetts, during the Depression, supported by an extended family rich in cousins (including cousin Nancy Mowry, a surrogate sister to Betty), aunts, uncles and grandparents. She taught Sunday school at the First Baptist Church, and was a Girl Scout leader. Betty graduated from Worcester High School of Commerce. A bright student, she could have easily gone on to college, but family financial circumstances prevented this. In 1942, Betty sadly lost both of her parents. She supported herself by working as a teller at Mechanics National Bank, and through a co-worker met Victor Herbert Thulin, then a mechanical engineering student at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Vic was commissioned as an officer in the Navy, and shortly before his deployment to the Pacific they married on September 4, 1943. They would remain married for 52 years, until Vic's death in 1995. In 1945, tragedy struck Betty's life again, when her brother Harrison Jr., a Sergeant in the 329th Infantry Regiment, 83d Infantry Division, died at the Battle of the Bulge
After the War, Betty and Vic left Worcester and their New England roots to move to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Vic went to Pitt on the G.I. Bill for his bachelor’s degree in metallurgical engineering, and began his career with United States Steel. Their first house was in Baldwin Borough, where their sons, Charles and Donald, were born in 1950 and 1952 respectively. In 1957, the Thulins moved to Monroeville, Pennsylvania, where Vic began work at US Steel's research center. It was here that Betty and Vic loved, raised, encouraged and supported their sons and here that Betty would call home for much of the rest of her life.
Betty's life outside the home was marked by service and accomplishment. With her warm personality and community-minded mentality, Betty easily attracted and motivated others to take part in a variety of causes. In Baldwin, Betty became Vice-President, then President, of the Baldwin Borough Woman’s Club. Under her tenure membership grew and the Club spearheaded the local Mothers March on Polio.
In Monroeville, Betty proudly served the party of Eisenhower, Schuerger, Scott, Heinz and Hillman, as precinct committeewoman, and as Monroeville vice chair. She campaigned to create Monroeville's public library, and served on its Board. She attended Cross Roads Presbyterian Church, where both she and Vic served as Ruling Elders on the Session. She is fondly remembered for her contributions and service to the Church’s Preschool, retiring as Chairman of its Board in 1999. Betty rarely spoke of her achievements, but she did delight in telling how she had turned down invitations to join the American Association of University Women, as she had no college degree.
Betty was a wonderful grandmother to her four grandchildren: Sean, Elizabeth, Erik and Ashley. A particularly fond memory of the family comes from when Elizabeth was born in 1985 while her mother and Betty's daughter-in-law, Judee, was completing a master's degree at NYU. Aged 65, Betty moved into a dorm room with Judee and Elizabeth and helped care for her granddaughter for the first three months of her life. After Vic‘s death, Betty remained in Monroeville, traveling to visit her grandchildren in Seattle and Wayland.
In 2006 she returned to New England to a retirement home in Framingham, Massachusetts, not far from the former Atwood family farm in Sudbury. In July 2015 her family, relatives and friends honored her with a warm and heartfelt celebration of her 95th birthday. Betty will be remembered for her sense of humor, intelligence and great capacity for service and love.
Betty is survived by her son Donald Thulin and his wife Jennifer Thulin, MD of Wayland and her son Charles Thulin and his former spouse Judee Wells, both of Bellevue, Washington, and by her grandchildren Sean Thulin of Ashland, Elizabeth Wells-Thulin and her husband Harry Peirse of Walthamstow, London, Erik Thulin of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Ashley Wells-Thulin of New York City.
Visitations will be held at the John C. Bryant Funeral Home, 56 Pemberton Road (off route 30), Wayland, on Saturday, September 12, from 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Her funeral service will be held on Saturday, September 12, at noon at First Parish in Wayland, 50 Cochituate Road, Wayland.
Interment will follow on Tuesday, September 15, at 1:00 p.m. in the Crouch and Thulin family lot in Moreland Cemetery, Paxton, not far from the former Crouch family farm.
In lieu of flowers, her family suggests that memorial gifts be sent to Cross Roads Preschool, Cross Roads Presbyterian Church, 2310 Haymaker Road, Monroeville, PA 15146.
There will be a memorial service for Betty at Cross Roads Presbyterian Church later this year.