Obituary of Betty Marie Vandewater

Betty Marie (Kurz) Vandewater passed away after a brief illness at Saratoga Hospital on May 22, 2017.  She was a resident in Enriched Living at Woodlawn Commons.

She was born in 1927 to Herman & Thyra (Peterson) Kurz, immigrants from Germany and Sweden respectively, in Hempstead, Long Island.  She attended Hempstead High School, and earned a BA in Spanish from Adelphi College.  In 1949 she married Kenneth Vandewater.  She raised a family on Long Island, first in Merrick, and after 1965, Smithtown.  She attended St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church in Smithtown; along with her husband, she served in the choir and bell choir, and volunteered in many other capacities over the years.  She received an MA in Art History from SUNY Stony Brook University in 1995.  After her husband’s passing in 2007, she relocated to Poughkeepsie, NY to be closer to her children.  In 2016 she relocated to Saratoga Springs, NY.

In addition to her parents and her husband of 58 years she was predeceased by her brother, H. Wilbur Kurz. 

She is survived by her sisters-in-law Joan Kurz, Billings, MT & Louise Vandewater Hatt, North Bellmore, NY; daughter Candace Frankel (Fred) of Estero, FL; son Craig Vandewater (Darlene) of Remsen, NY; daughter Lynne Vandewater of Richfield Springs, NY; son Kyle Vandewater (Jean) of Greenwich, NY, and the four grandchildren that she delighted in, Caitlin, Bailey, Riley, & Hadley.

A graveside service will be held at 12pm at the Gerald B.H. Solomon Saratoga National Cemetery on Friday, June 2, 2017; Betty and her late husband will be interred at this time.  The procession will form at 11:30 AM at St. Joseph’s RC Church on Hill Street in Greenwich.  A reception will immediately follow at the home of Kyle & Jean Vandewater, 32 Hill Street, Greenwich, NY 12384.

Online condolences and messages to the family may be made at www.flynnbrosinc.com