Portland- Betty D. Graffius, 91, passed into the presence of her Savior, Jesus, and was welcomed home by her husband Carl and her daughter Pamela on Saturday, February 20, 2021. The daughter of Kip and Edna (Wing) Andreasen, she was born in Portland on October 19, 1929. She was raised in Portland and grew up in the Bethlehem Evangelical Free Church, which later became the Payson Park Evangelical Free Church (Now Community of Grace). As a young girl she met her lifelong friend Elsie (Gullikson) Maxwell when Elsie’s family invited Betty to attend Sunday School with them. When Betty was a senior in high school her family moved to Clearfield PA. She was not happy about it at the time, but it was there that she met and married her husband Carl Graffius Jr. The two were married in in 1948 but only lived in Pennsylvania for a couple years before moving back to her beloved Portland community. They raised their five children in Portland where Betty excelled as a mother and homemaker. She was always active in her church, faithfully serving as a Sunday school teacher, in the kitchen, or wherever needed, well into her late eighties. Betty’s two greatest loves was her Savior, Jesus, and her family.
Betty was predeceased by her husband of 72 years, Carl Graffius Jr., her daughter Pamela Graffius who recently died from ovarian cancer, and her brother Clifford Andreasen.
She is survived by her children Wayne Graffius, and his wife Rosemary of Portland, Carlene Chute, and her husband Byron of Casco, Jonathan Graffius, and his wife Courtney of Portland, and Steven Graffius, and his wife Laurie of Gray. She is also survived by 10 grandchildren, many great grandchildren, and her lifelong friend Elsie Maxwell.
Betty will be laid to rest next to her husband at Brooklawn Memorial Park in Portland. A celebration of life service will take place later in the spring at her church.
In lieu of flowers donations may be made in Betty’s name to the Community of Grace Church, 355 Bridgton Rd, Westbrook ME 04092.
