Bette Ruth (Caldwell) Brant, age 92, of Ingomar McCandless Township, locked hands with our blessed lord and savior on Thursday June 13, 2019. Bette was born August 22, 1926 at St. John’s General Hospital in Pittsburgh (near Marshall Avenue where she grew up) and the beloved wife of 27 years to the late Elmer Henry Brant who passed on October 18, 1977. She is the daughter of the late Ruth Doehla and Charles Caldwell and sister to Virginia Schnelzer (Joseph). Beloved mother of 3 sons; William (Maureen), Richard, and Arthur (Patricia) Brant; grandmother of 6 grandchildren, Christopher, Greggory (Katarina), Christina (Bradford), Arthur, William, and Gabrielle; and great grandmother of Fiona Rose Brant.
Bette graduated from Perry High School in 1943 and was employed by the Philadelphia Company from 1942 until 1948, about the time she met her future husband Elmer through a mutual friend. They were married on July 8, 1950 in Trinity Lutheran Church (a church the Brant/Brandt family built in 1845) located on Brandt School Road (Franklin Park) and where the Brandt family originally settled in 1838 (today the Northmont Farms development). The couple then moved to their Ingomar home (and current residence) that Elmer built, located across from the second Brant farm where Elmer was raised.
In 1952 Bette resigned from her job at Equitable Gas to begin raising a family. Besides caring for her husband and 3 sons, Bette managed a prominent family vegetable business in Ingomar until her husbands’ death. Well known in the community as the “Strawberry Lady of Ingomar”, the families’ summer activities centered around 2 large gardens where practically every imaginable vegetable was raised, the two main crops being strawberries and tomatoes. Bette’s familiar reminder to her sons on summer weekends was “I have a 40-quart order of strawberries ordered so let’s please get to the garden and start picking”.
While Bette did not have the opportunity to attend college after high school, her dream of attaining a college degree never faded. While on hold for 25 years, in September 1969 at the age of 43, she enrolled at Pitt, just a year before her eldest son attended the same university. She graduated with honors and achieved a triple major in elementary education, earth space science, and history and followed that with separate masters’ degrees in guidance counseling (1974 Slippery Rock) and in science (1980 Pitt). She began her teaching career in 1975 teaching every grade except 3rd and 5th in the North Hills School District until her eventual retirement in 2001, when she ended her career teaching 7th grade earth space science. She received many professional awards for her generous giving of time to students who prior to taking science had never enjoyed the subject.
Bette was a survivor and managed several physical setbacks in the past 20 years including two separate incidents of colon cancer followed by two separate hip replacements. The most loving wife and mother any husband or son could ever wish for, Bette consistently put her own personal interests and needs behind those of everyone else. A selfless, loyal, driven, and most caring person to everyone who knew her, Bette exemplified the true meaning of love and fully dedicated her life to her loving family. Mom will be greatly missed by her deeply devoted family and to all those who had the pleasure of knowing her. God bless you Mom, you are in a much better place now.
Family will be receiving friends on Monday, June 17, 2019 from 2-4 & 6-8 PM at the H.P. Brandt Funeral Home, Inc., 1032 Perry Highway, Ross Township, (412-364-4444), where funeral service will be held on Tuesday, June 18, 2019 at 11 AM. Burial will follow in Trinity Lutheran Cemetery, Franklin Park. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be directed to the Alzheimer’s Association. Condolences may be shared at www.brandtfuneralhome.com.
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