Betty L. (McDaniel) Roos, 92, passed away Wednesday, April 20, 2022, after a long illness, at West River Health Campus in Evansville. She was born on February 13, 1930, to Louis and Ida Marie (Varner) McDaniel, in Lincoln City.
The daughter of a teacher, she attended Dale High School and graduated in 1948. During her school years, she played clarinet and saxophone in the school band, took piano lessons, and was the High School Basketball Queen during her Senior year. She married her high school sweetheart and classmate, Jim Roos, on July 8, 1949.
To support him through his college years and supplement his athletic scholarship at Evansville College, she worked as a secretary for the Bud Bruce company. After Jim’s college graduation, they settled in Tell City, where he was hired to teach and coach football, baseball, and basketball at Tell City High School, and Betty worked as a homemaker.
This was only the first of several jobs for Jim, in and out of teaching and coaching in mostly Southern Indiana towns over the next 12 years, as they moved from Tell City to Connersville to Cannelton back to Tell City to Washington to Ireland to Rockport, and then finally back to Tell City, where, in 1964, Jim was hired to serve as General Manager of the company owned by his brother-in-law Guy N. Ramsey.
Following Jim’s retirement in 1995, he and Betty moved to Christmas Lake Village, then lived for a time in Evansville, moved back to Christmas Lake for a few years, before finally returning to Tell City in 2016 for their final years. Everywhere Betty lived with Jim, she maintained an active social life and developed a wide circle of friends.
During their 72-year marriage, Betty worked primarily as a homemaker, raising their five children, which included their Down’s Syndrome son, Eric, the middle child. When Eric was born in 1959, doctors recommended having him institutionalized, but Betty was adamant that Eric would be raised at home and given all the tender loving care that she and the rest of her family could provide. As a result, Eric lived comfortably with his parents until he passed away at home with Betty and Jim at his side, holding his hands, in July 2017.
Throughout her adult life, Betty loved to travel and was an avid bridge player and active participant of bridge clubs in Tell City and Evansville. After her five children had grown in the 1980s, she became an avid golfer and bowler and won several trophies in both sports. She served a term as President of the Women’s Nine-Hole League at Rolling Hills Country Club in Evansville. She was a founding member of the Tell City chapter of Tri Kappa Sorority, serving for a time as President and remaining an active member throughout the 1970s, 80s, and 90s. She continued to play piano well into her senior years, until arthritis made it too painful to play.
Always, she was a devoted wife to Jim, a loving mother to her children, and a doting grandmother and great-grandmother. Jim preceded Betty in death in August 2021.
She is survived by two sisters, Joy (McDaniel) Aten, of Lexington, Kentucky and Gloria (McDaniel) Schuetz, of Evansville; four children, Michael (Minsun) Roos of Cincinnati, Pat (Paul) Swiz of Evansville, Scott (Herbert Griffin) Roos of Tell City, and Tina (Steve) Root of Newburgh; three grandchildren, Christopher (Kacy Hollenback) Roos of Dallas, Texas, Jesse Roos of Cincinnati, and Cas (Jill) Swiz of Evansville; five step-grandchildren, Brian (Leah) Root of Chicago; Emily (Jack) Coxon of Chicago, Justin Root of West Hollywood, California, Dae-Hyuc Yim of Tucson, Arizona, and Jin-Hyuc Yim of Enterprise, Alabama; four great-grandchildren, Adam Swiz and Mallory Swiz of Evansville, Eliot Roos Hollenback and James Roos Hollenback of Dallas; and three step-great-grandchildren, Riley Root of Chicago and Ava Coxon and Lana Coxon of Dyera; and many nieces and nephews.
In addition to husband, Jim, and son, Eric, she was preceded in death by her only brother, Gerald V. McDaniel, in 2009.
Visitation will be 5-7 p.m. CDT, Friday, April 22, at Zoercher-Gillick Funeral Home, 920 Tenth St., Tell City, with a prayer service to follow. A funeral mass will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, April 23, at St. Paul’s Catholic Church, 814 Jefferson St., Tell City. Burial will follow at St. Nicholas Church cemetery in Santa Claus, followed by a meal at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Dale.
Memorial contributions can be made to the charity of your choice.
Condolences may be left online at www.zoercher-gillickfuneralhome.com.
