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Betty Dunn was 17 in this photo taken in 1948. (Submitted photo / January 12, 2013) |
Ed remembers breaking his arm during a summer PONY League practice while Betty was at work. He didn’t tell her because he wanted to go swimming with the team after practice.
When Betty came home from work to find Ed lying on the couch with ice on his arm and later discovered his arm was broken, she wasn’t happy with Ed’s coach, who was his future wife’s father.
“He got an earful,” Ed said.
Betty loved cross-stitch, played softball in her younger days and was in a duckpin bowling league for many years. She knew most of Ed’s coaches because she had grown up with them.
“My Little League coach said she was a better ballplayer than I was and half the kids were,” Ed said.
After Jack Rockwell’s death, Betty got a job at J.C. Penney.
One of her co-workers had been a friend years ago and they rekindled their friendship, which led to card and domino games with a group of women Denise referred to as the “Golden Girls.” Betty was the “grumpy lady that carried the purse,” Denise said.
“If she didn’t like something, she’d tell you. They took it in stride,” Denise said. “That’s just Betty. It’s who she was.”
Betty was a strict mother, but with her children’s best interests at heart.
“She spoke her mind,” Ed said.
“She was always fair. What she was trying to teach you was the necessities of life,” Bob said. “She treated us all equal. I can’t say enough about her.”
“That’s how we learned to raise our children,” Denise said.
Betty got involved with organizations that were near to her heart. Her husbands, both named Jack, were veterans. First husband Jack Morris served in World War II; Jack Rockwell was in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War.
That prompted her to get involved with the Funkstown American Legion Auxiliary after Jack Rockwell’s death, which led to volunteering at the VA Medical Center in Martinsburg, W.Va.
“She’s very patriotic and felt veterans didn’t get a fair shake. The VA — she loved it,” Bob said.
“Even after her heart surgery, she was never home,” Ed said.
Ed said he learned years later that Betty had a miscarriage after he was born, which explained why she started volunteering with the March of Dimes.
Betty was known for her immaculate housekeeping.
“The funny thing was, my mom was a clean addict. Her house was always spotless,” Bob said. “Right after she moved in here (Red Oak Avenue), they called the living room the Betty Rockwell Museum because it was rarely used.”
“We never used the fireplace because it would be too dirty,” Ed said.
When Betty came home from work to find Ed lying on the couch with ice on his arm and later discovered his arm was broken, she wasn’t happy with Ed’s coach, who was his future wife’s father.
“He got an earful,” Ed said.
Betty loved cross-stitch, played softball in her younger days and was in a duckpin bowling league for many years. She knew most of Ed’s coaches because she had grown up with them.
“My Little League coach said she was a better ballplayer than I was and half the kids were,” Ed said.
After Jack Rockwell’s death, Betty got a job at J.C. Penney.
One of her co-workers had been a friend years ago and they rekindled their friendship, which led to card and domino games with a group of women Denise referred to as the “Golden Girls.” Betty was the “grumpy lady that carried the purse,” Denise said.
“If she didn’t like something, she’d tell you. They took it in stride,” Denise said. “That’s just Betty. It’s who she was.”
Betty was a strict mother, but with her children’s best interests at heart.
“She spoke her mind,” Ed said.
“She was always fair. What she was trying to teach you was the necessities of life,” Bob said. “She treated us all equal. I can’t say enough about her.”
“That’s how we learned to raise our children,” Denise said.
Betty got involved with organizations that were near to her heart. Her husbands, both named Jack, were veterans. First husband Jack Morris served in World War II; Jack Rockwell was in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War.
That prompted her to get involved with the Funkstown American Legion Auxiliary after Jack Rockwell’s death, which led to volunteering at the VA Medical Center in Martinsburg, W.Va.
“She’s very patriotic and felt veterans didn’t get a fair shake. The VA — she loved it,” Bob said.
“Even after her heart surgery, she was never home,” Ed said.
Ed said he learned years later that Betty had a miscarriage after he was born, which explained why she started volunteering with the March of Dimes.
Betty was known for her immaculate housekeeping.
“The funny thing was, my mom was a clean addict. Her house was always spotless,” Bob said. “Right after she moved in here (Red Oak Avenue), they called the living room the Betty Rockwell Museum because it was rarely used.”
“We never used the fireplace because it would be too dirty,” Ed said.