Elizabeth (Betty) I. Sluke, resident of Newtown, Pennsylvania, for 20 years, and more recently, Jamison, died peacefully on Saturday, December 16, 2023 at The Bridges of Warwick.
Betty was the beloved wife of the late Theodore (Ted) Sluke. At the time of his death in 2015, the couple had shared over 56 years of marriage.
Born in Tresckow, Pennsylvania on July 30, 1924, Betty was one of 11 children of John and Mary (Lesko) Yaschur. Predeceasing her were siblings George Yaschur, Ann Feskanin, Mary Bonacci, Margaret “Peggy” McBride, Michael Yaschur, John Jascur, Andrew Yaschur, Dorothy Chulock, Bernice DeBellas and Eleanor Rymond.
She was a 1942 graduate of West Hazelton High School and was recruited to work for, and accepted a position with, the War Department (which became the Dept. of Defense) at the Pentagon. She served in government for 15 years. While at the Pentagon, Betty had top security clearance, taking various government courses there, and also attending Strayer’s Business College evenings. She rose to the level of Administrative Officer of the Armed Forces Courier Service when she left in 1958.
After her marriage in 1958, Betty and Ted raised their daughter Lisa in Wyckoff, New Jersey, and Connecticut before spending their retirement years in Charlottesville, Virginia and later Newtown. She enjoyed many summer vacations at the beach in Stone Harbor with her family.
A devoted, wife, mother and grandmother, Betty was strong in her faith. An avid reader and a talented copy editor, she loved sharing memories and stories with family and friends – especially with her granddaughters – about her time in Washington, D.C.
She is survived by and will be missed tremendously by her devoted daughter Lisa Hawley and son-in-law Peter Hawley of Doylestown, and her dear granddaughters, Marisa Anne Hawley of San Francisco and Nicole Elise Hawley of Arlington, Va. She is also survived by brothers- and sisters-in-law, Michael R. Rymond, John and Ann Sluke and Dorothy Grasso. Betty will be remembered fondly by many nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews.
Relatives and friends are invited to attend her viewing on Thursday, December 28, 2023 from 10:00 a.m., until the start of her Funeral Mass at 11:00 a.m. at St. Andrew Catholic Church, 81 Swamp Road in Newtown, PA 18940.
Internment will take place privately at Saint Mary’s Cemetery in Alexandria, Virginia.
In lieu of flowers, contributions in Betty’s memory may be made to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) CHOP - Giving at PO Box 781352 in Philadelphia, PA 19178-1352, or to Saint Jude Children’s Research Hospital St. Jude - Giving at 501 St. Jude Place in Memphis, TN 38105.
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