Betsy Ross Kroll

BETSY ROSS KROLL, 86, of Houston and Kerrville, TX and Crested Butte, CO, died Saturday, July 28, in Houston of complications from heart disease. In and out of hospitals and rehab centers after a heart attack in early January, Mrs. Kroll passed her last months as she lived her life, a stoic trooper with courage, knowledge, grace, and humor. Mrs. Kroll (Betsy to her friends and family) was born on April 24, 1921 in Cincinnati, Ohio, the daughter of Grace Marguerite Johnson and James Knox Ross. From Ohio her family moved to Tulsa, OK where she attended elementary and junior high school, to Dallas where she attended Highland Park, and to Houston where she graduated in 1938 from San Jacinto. Mrs. Kroll attended TWU in Denton, graduating with a degree in Journalism in the morning of June 1, 1942 and marrying Charles August Kroll in the college chapel that afternoon. The couple moved to Freeport where Mr. Kroll, a 1940 graduate of Texas A&M, was employed by the Dow Chemical Company. Mrs. Kroll worked briefly as a reporter for the Brazosport Facts. The Krolls lived and raised their family of three children in the Brazosport area. In 1964 they moved to Zurich, Switzerland, and returned to their home in Lake Jackson in 1967 where they resided until Charles Kroll retired from Dow. In 1982 they moved to Kerrville. In 2004 Betsy accompanied Charles to Houston for medical treatment, and after his death the following year, she made her home at Belmont Village in West University. Betsy Kroll was an active member of the Brazosport community. She lead a Girl Scout troop, taught Sunday school and sang in the choir at the First Methodist Church, campaigned for UNICEF, worked in the League of Women Voters and Republican Party politics, was an active member of AAUW, and penned copy for the Brazosport Facts about the various groups in which she was involved. She was a founder of "La Esquelita," a privately funded preschool for Spanish-speaking children to provide them a "head start" entering public school. She was a member of the Wednesday Review Club and became an enthusiastic patron of NPR and public television. She continued her community involvement on a less active scale in her retirement years in Kerrville, enjoying summers in Colorado, travel, and visits with her friends and family. Betsy Kroll was a life-long passionate reader, historian and book collector. Curious, artistic, and creative, she explored every environment in which she lived or traveled, reporting her exploits and findings by letters to many. Every summer, the Krolls traveled the USA by stationwagon with their young children, who have reported that she never missed an historic marker! Mrs. Kroll was preceeded in death by her husband of 63 years, Charles A. Kroll in 2005; and by her brother, Stanley H. Ross in 1972. Survivors include her children, Charlotte Kroll of Washington, DC; Ross Kroll and wife, Phyllis Meriwether Kroll of Webster; and Lindsey Kroll of Houston; her grandchildren, Jason Kroll and wife Abby of Parker, CO; Quinn Kroll and wife Amy of Dallas; Rachel Burk and husband Paul Maroon of Philadelphia, PA; and Juliet Kroll of Houston; her great grandchildren, David and Emma Kroll of Parker, CO; her brother and sister-in-law, Evelyn and James K. Ross of Nassau Bay; her sister-in-law, Diane Ross of Santa Barbara, CA; three nephews, Knox Ross of Weatherford, Gary Ross of Houston, and Phil Ross of Santa Monica, CA; a niece, Annie Ross of San Diego, CA; and many relatives, cousins and friends. A funeral service will be held at the Lake Jackson First United Methodist Church Saturday, August 4 at 10:30 am, followed by a graveside service at 4:00 pm at the City Cemetery in La Grange, TX. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her honor to the Butt-Holdsworth Memorial Library, Kerrville, TX; National Public Radio (NPR); or your local Public Television station. The family wishes to thank the staff of Odyssey HealthCare for their hospice service during Mrs. Kroll's last months.