Akins, Betty L.

Betty Lou (nee: Carter) Akins Sunday, April 7, 2024 was born in Coalton, Randolph County, West Virginia on April 10, 1933, daughter of Ralph Monroe Carter and Elizabeth Jane Watkins Carter.  When she was four months old her parents left Coalton and rode a freight train to Colorado settling in Idaho Springs. Her grandparents begged them not to do this because she was so small weighing only four pounds.  Betty loved living in Colorado and always considered it her home. She started first grade there and had the best teacher ever. Two years later her brother Bob was born.  Ralph and Elizabeth separated later. Betty, Bob and her Mom lived above the Gem Theater on Miner Street in a small apartment. She always remembered her Mom on her knees scrubbing floors. She cleaned all the apartments there.  Elizabeth met and married Lloyd Crider in 1940.  They moved to Missouri for awhile and then lived in Virginia when Lloyd  worked on the Skyline Drive.  Later they lived in several states while Lloyd worked on construction jobs. This was during the war. He got a job in Alaska so he took Elizabeth, Betty and Bob to Virginia to be close to her family there. She was pregnant with Sam.  Betty and Bob could hardly wait for him to be born. Betty wanted a sister but Bob won. They loved him so much and spoiled him rotten. Sam was such a joy to have. He was born July 8, 1943.  Betty graduated from high school in 1951. She went to work for Southwestern Bell Telephone in St. Louis. She retired in 1983.  She married Louis Oliver Akins, Jr. April 1, 1961. He passed away March 4, 2007 and is buried at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in St. Louis.  She lived the remainder of her life alone.  Graveside services will be at New Harmony Cemetery, Delaware, MO. Birch Tree, MO.