Betty Gladys Hileman

BETTY GLADYS HILEMAN’S OBITUARY Betty Gladys Hileman, age 93, died peacefully on Monday October 17, 2016 at the Labier Geriatric Home located at 5707 Dawes Street, Alexandria, VA. Betty was born in London, England on July 17, 1923. She was raised by her parents Albert and Ellen Adams in London, England and survived all her British brothers and sister, Burt, Donald and Maisie. Betty attended the Richmond County School for Girls in London on scholarship and graduated in 1939. The start of World War II prevented her from continuing her studies at the University of London. She was sixteen and went to work in London as a bookkeeper. As the war continued and America entered the war and our GI’s came to England she had the pleasure to meet First Sargent Leroy Edgar Hileman of the Army Corp of Engineers from Johnstown, Pennsylvania. They became engaged and were married in a church wedding on April 1, 1944. When World War II came to an end Betty joined her husband in Johnstown, PA, although Leroy was stationed at Fort Belvoir, VA. She traveled to the United States in February of 1946 on the Queen Mary ocean liner, still painted battleship grey, and docked in New York City. Betty then became one of 40,000 war brides from World War II, she was twenty-three years old. With the unfortunate death of her husband Leroy on September 27, 1964, she gave up her life as a stay at home Mom and went to work full time at the National Association of Dental Laboratories to finish raising her three children. She became known as “Betty Bookkeeper”, continuing her career in accounting and retired as NADL’s controller after twenty-five years of service in 1989. Betty will be remembered as a strong individual who overcame many hardships in her life. She was never one to shy away from a challenge and when considering her childhood in London and growing up during the Great Depression and coming alone to America at a young age, she was very brave. Betty became a US citizen in August 1953 and was a true Patriot and proud to be an American, although she loved her homeland of England and took many trips back to London to visit her relatives. She was a terrific seamstress and loved to knit and sew. Betty loved working in her yard and was laying pavers in her back yard in her eighties. She was very involved with the American Legion when her husband was alive and studied military history. Because of being in harm’s way during World War II, she had a great dislike of war. In her lifetime, Betty beat diphtheria as a child, colon cancer in 1975 and the bombing of London during the German Blitz of London during World War II, but she could not beat father time. Betty is survived by her three children, Diane, Robert and Gary. She had four grandchildren, two grandsons by Robert, Rob and Michael. She also had two granddaughters by Gary, Katherine and Kristin. She had one great granddaughter that was born after she passed away, a beautiful baby girl by her grandson Rob, Caroline Elizabeth Hileman. Betty’s ashes will be buried alongside her beloved husband, Leroy, at Arlington National Cemetery on April 3rd at 11:00am. There will be a brief graveside military service. Donations are not necessary, but Betty would request you do a good deed for an individual in her memory. Arrangements under the direction of Demaine Funeral Home, Alexandria, VA.