Betty Coston Lassen

Betty Coston Lassen, devoted wife and mother and accomplished artist, died of complications from Alzheimer's on May 25. She was 84. Betty was the second of three children of Dr. Ralls McKenny Coston and Eugenia Persons Smartt Coston of Birmingham. Her brightest childhood memories were of her grandmother's home in Eufaula, Alabama and life at Montgomery's Maxwell Air Field, where Dr. Coston served as a medical officer during World War II. Betty graduated from Ramsay High School in Birmingham in 1950 and four years later received a BA in Art from Auburn University. In 1966 she married Civil Engineer Harald Fougner Lassen, Jr. of Birmingham and they lived in great happiness for many years. Betty's lifelong dedication to drawing and painting began at Auburn and continued unbroken for five decades. Still life, the human figure, and urban and natural landscape were a main focus of her earlier work, while in the 1970s her canvases and works on paper acquired more abstraction. Joy of visual expression was a constant quality in her art. During the 1980s and 1990s she combined watercolor, drawing, and pastel with especially elegant and original effects. Betty's award-winning pictures appeared in numerous juried and one-artist shows. A lifelong member of the Watercolor Society of Alabama and early member of Birmingham's Village Painters, she was represented for many years by the Littlehouse Galleries and later by the Monty Stabler Galleries. In 2004, the Altamont School displayed a retrospective exhibition covering the full span of her career. Betty was predeceased by her sisters Marianne Coston Robinson and Eugenia Coston Bryan. She is survived by her husband of 50 years Harald Lassen, her sons Lee Rust Brown Jr of Washington DC, David Coston Brown of the territory of Guam, and Harald Fougner Lassen III of Birmingham, and her five grandchildren. Our family will always remember the generous devotion of Betty's niece Beth Walker Williams during her years of illness. The family also greatly appreciates the fine level of care provided by all of the staff of the Arbor Unit at The Oaks on Parkwood. We will miss Betty but her love, her vivid personality, and her creative gifts remain in our hearts. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials be sent to St. Mary's-on-the-Highlands Episcopal Church, 1910 12th Avenue South, Birmingham, Alabama 35205 or Alzheimer's of Central Alabama, PO Box 2273, Birmingham, Alabama 35201. A memorial service will be held at St. Mary's-on-the-Highlands Episcopal Church at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, June 8, 2016, followed by a visitation at 11:30 a.m.

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