Betty Maud Banel

08/02/1928 to 12/26/2017

Betty Maud Banel passed away after a long illness on December 26, 2017 at Life Care Center of Mount Vernon. She and her late husband Richard J. Banel had lived for many years on Camano Island. They raised their family of nine children on Rose Hill in Kirkland.

Betty was a child in her native London when World War II broke out in 1939. She had vivid memories of stretching rationed foods with her mother, father and brother; taking shelter with her mother and cat from Nazi bombs in a backyard air raid shelter; and being evacuated to live with a host family outside of London in the British countryside.  After the war, she was educated at Pitman Business College and worked as a secretary at National Cash Register's London offices.

Betty met her husband Richard at a Halloween dance in London in 1951. He was a decorated member of the Polish Home Army, the organized resistance to the Nazis and Soviets.  When World War II ended, he had escaped from a Soviet labor camp and made his way to London to study engineering.

The two married in 1952 and started a family in London. They fulfilled Richard's lifelong dream and immigrated to the United States in December 1953. The growing family lived in New York and California before a job offer for Richard from Boeing drew them to the Pacific Northwest in 1959.

As an active part of the community at Holy Family Church in Kirkland and at her children's schools, Betty volunteered countless hours in support of programs and activities, and found time to be a member of the "Shrinking Violets" garden club. She was also very active in Democratic Party politics throughout the 1970s and 1980s, and worked temporary stints at polling places and at the offices of King County Records and Elections.  In her later years, she helped with youth education programs at St. Cecelia's Church in Stanwood.

Betty was a devoted mother and grandmother who always encouraged the varied and diverse interests of her children and grandchildren. She found ways to support pursuits like music lessons, horseback riding, and scouts, as well as to perform the carpool duties these activities often entailed.  Betty also loved animals.  The family was never without at least one dog, and all of her children learned from Betty the special role that animals can play in our lives.

After raising her family, Betty returned to full-time work in the early 1980s. She taught remedial reading at Mark Twain Elementary in the Lake Washington School District for a decade. Betty touched the lives of countless students with her innovative and creative approaches to sharing her love for reading and for the English language.

As survivors of World War II and naturalized US citizens, Betty and her husband Richard shared a quiet yet fierce devotion to democracy, free speech, civic engagement and all fundamental aspects of the American political system. However, every four years they gave their kids reason to chuckle, since Betty and Richard's differing national party loyalties were such that they often cancelled out each other's presidential vote.

Betty was preceded in death by her husband Richard Jan Banel who passed away in 1996. She is survived by her older brother and his family in the UK; her children Misia Banel, Janie Thompson, Richard F. Banel, Martin Banel, John Banel, Robert Banel, Mary Jennings, Joan Banel, Feliks Banel and their spouses/partners; 15 grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.

The family would like to thank the staff of Life Care of Mount Vernon, especially the nurses and certified nursing assistants. Memorial contributions may be made to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

Visitation will be held at Gilbertson Funeral Home on Wednesday 1/3/2018 from 11 until

The rosary takes place at 7:30 P.M.

Rosary will take place on Wednesday, January 3 at 7:30pm in the chapel at Gilbertson's Funeral Home in Stanwood; a memorial service will be held there Thursday, January 4 at 10am.