Betty Carolyn Croston

Betty was born in Carthage, Missouri on February 8, 1927, the fourth daughter of Charles Elmer (1892-1944), and Verdie Ethel (Wormington) (1897-1979) Allaback. She grew up in the Joplin, Missouri area and graduated Joplin High School in 1944. She met her future husband, Richard William Croston (1922-2003) while he was stationed with the Army Signal Corps at nearby Fort Crowder. Dick and Betty were married February 16, 1945 in Galena, Kansas. The couple moved around a bit during the first years of their marriage, but settled in Independence, Missouri in 1955, where they continued to reside in the same house for the next 50 years. Along the way they had five children: Carolyn Lee, Charles William, Kenneth Eugene, Marilyn Sue, and Steven Wayne.

Betty worked at several jobs over the years to help support the family budget, but her primary occupation was always making a home for her family. As a person, she was quiet and unassuming, but she had a great sense of fun and an underlying strength. Betty was a member of Tri-City Baptist Church. She loved chickens, travelling with family and eventually doting on her grandchildren (12), great-grandchildren (15), and great-great grandchild.

After her husband’s death in 2003, she moved into the home of her daughter Marilyn and son-in-law Paul Hays in Blue Springs, where she resided until 2021. Betty was predeceased by her sisters Erma Nadine Deming, Iris Maxine Baker, and Martha Evelyn Kennedy; her husband Richard William Croston; her daughter Carolyn Lee Rambo (husband Kenneth) and son Kenneth Eugene Croston (wife Margot). She is survived by her other children: Charles William Croston (wife Roberta), Marilyn Sue Hays (husband Paul), and Steven Wayne Croston (wife Lynn).