Beatrice (Betty) Metzke Lawlor, 94, former longtime Wisconsin resident, passed away peacefully in her sleep Aug. 14, 2016, at her home in Santee, Calif.
Born on April 1, 1922, in Milwaukee, to Frank and Margaret (Pekel) Metzke, Betty was the oldest of four children.
After graduating from Pulaski High School, and working in the war effort, Betty moved to the East Troy area where many of her relatives already lived.
While working at the East Troy House Restaurant, which her mother had opened, Betty met the love of her life and future husband, Thomas Leo Lawlor. They were married on Aug. 4, 1948.
During the next four years they built a small home on an acre of the Lawlor farm on Townline Road, started a mink farm, and settled in to raise their two children, Thomas Alan Lawlor and Mary Lynne Lawlor.
Tragedy struck the family when her husband, Tom, died suddenly from cancer on Oct. 5, 1951. With the help of an extensive network of friends and relatives from both sides of the family, Betty managed to get through this tough time. Her sister, Virginia Brandt moved into the house with her children, Stephen and Marsha. They worked together to raise the children for 11 years.
Betty worked at various jobs until 1969, when she moved to California to be near her sister Marilyn and to help care for their father in his retirement home in Santee, Calif. She spent the next 46 years there, enjoying the warm weather, gardening, working with children in the schools, and participating in church activities with her many church friends.
Betty is survived by her children, Tom (Paula) Lawlor and Mary (George) Lawlor, her grandsons Orion (Layla) Lawlor and Troy (Dana) Lawlor; great-grandchildren, Bruce and Lydia Lawlor; and many nephews, nieces, and cousins.
She was preceded in death by her siblings, Virginia Brandt, Marilyn Metzke and Frank Metzke.
A memorial mass will be held at noon on Saturday, Oct. 29, at St. Peter’s Catholic Church, 1975 Beulah Ave., East Troy, with a viewing at 11 a.m. A luncheon will be served after the mass in the parish hall.
Burial will follow at Betty’s final resting place, next to her husband, Tom, in St. Peter’s Catholic Cemetery on St. Peter’s Road.
