Betty Marie Wycoff Revala Renkey – Stuarts Draft, Va., formerly of Speers Hill and Charleroi

Betty Marie Wycoff Revala Renkey passed peacefully on Feb. 27, 2021, in Fishersville, Va., just three months shy of her 100th birthday. Betty was born in Charleroi on May 28, 1921, to Nat Wycoff and Marie Carroll Wycoff. Betty’s mother died when she was 3 years old. Her father died a few years later. As an orphan, Betty was raised on the Wycoff family farm in Elizabeth Township, where she made the best of her circumstances. She developed a sense of resilience and self-reliance from the challenges of her childhood and life on the farm. Betty’s determination and fortitude carried her through life with a positive attitude, which she summed up by saying, “I’m like a tough flower. I’ll blossom wherever you plant me.” Betty graduated from Elizabeth High School in 1939. In 1940-41 she worked as a Bell Telephone operator. Betty married George Revala in Charleroi, and in 1942 their daughter, Carol Sue, was born. The same year, George joined the U.S. Navy as a call of duty for World War II. After George’s death in 1974, Betty married her second husband, Melvin Renkey. Betty was a member of Speers United Methodist Church, Speers Hill, for more than 60 years before moving to Stuarts Draft, Va., to be closer to her daughter and family. Betty was outgoing and loved by her family and her many friends. She was a lifelong supporter of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Pirates. Betty was an avid golfer and cook and traveled internationally with her family. She was a great quilt maker and seamstress, and she won prizes for her dancing and card playing. Meticulous about her wardrobe, she never wanted to drive in a car with the windows down for fear her hair would be mussed. On Sundays, after church, she loved to join her friends for a movie and dinner. She was also a prolific and talented oil painter whose art is still appreciated in the homes of her family. Her husbands, George and Melvin; her siblings, Carroll, Jack and Eleanor Wycoff; and her daughter, Carol Sue Chambers, preceded Betty in death. She is survived by her son-in-law, Jerry Chambers of Nellysford, Va.; her grandson, Joshua Chambers and Christine; and her great-grand twins, Eva and Louis of Seattle, Wash. Due to circumstances caused by the pandemic, her celebration of life will occur at a later date. Memorial donations may be made to Speers United Methodist Church, 810 Jane Ave., Charleroi PA 15022.