Bette McGrath

      Bette Mary McGrath, 89, of Keosauqua, IA, passed away of natural causes at Van Buren Community Hospital on Wednesday, December 28, 2005. She was born September 7, 1916 in Burlington, IA to Flora and William Frudeger. She married James W. McGrath, August 28, 1940 in Burlington. Mr. McGrath passed away in 2001. Mrs. McGrath was a 1937 graduate of the University of Iowa with a Bachelor of Arts degree in music. She was a member of Alpha Delta Pi Sorority, and a life member of the University of Iowa Alumni Association. She taught elementary and high school vocal and instrumental music at Keswick, IA and taught private students in Burlington and Keosauqua. Mrs. McGrath was Chairman of worship, music and choir director at the Keosauqua Methodist Church for more than 50 years. She directed the Van Buren County Bicentennial Singers, the Sesquicentennial Singers and the Van Buren County Choir. She played violin in the Southeast Iowa Symphony and served as a Symphony board member.

      She served as chairman of the Van Buren County Red Cross, and was a volunteer for over fifty years. She initiated the Van Buren County Red Cross water safety program in 1952, developed a parent-tot water safety program in 1960 and initiated the blood services program in Van Buren County in 1972. She was instrumental in fund raising to acquire a grand piano for the Roberts Center in Keosauqua. She was a member of the Bentonsport Improvement Association, River View Club, Friends of Lacey Keosauqua State Park, and the Villages of Van Buren. She received the Gale Hawhee award for Outstanding Volunteer Leadership in 2000 and with her husband, James W. McGrath, received Keosauqua's Outstanding Citizen Award in 1974. In 1995 Mrs. McGrath was awarded the Iowa Red Cross Volunteer of the Year Award. While the honors bestowed upon her were many, in her view, the greatest were the opportunities to serve her church, family and community.

      She was a volunteer at the Van Buren Community Hospital for many years and served on the Keosauqua Library board, was a member of Chapter I PEO, the American Legion Auxiliary, Good Samaritan Club, Van Buren Players, Girls State, Farm Bureau Women, Van Buren County Development Association and the Iowa State Cancer Society.

      She was preceded in death by her husband, a daughter, Mary, her parents and a brother, Robert Frudeger. Surviving are sons, James W. of Keosauqua, IA, Stephen (Julie) of Swan Valley, ID, Mark (Lonna) of Oskaloosa, IA and daughter Martha Watkins (Ron) of Keosauqua, 10 grandchildren and 12 great-great grandchildren.

      A service will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday at United Methodist Church in Keosauqua. No visitation is planned. Private internment will be at Fellows Cemetery in Keosauqua. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorials to the Keosauqua Methodist Church music department, the Keosauqua Library, the American Red Cross or other charity of the donor's choice.