Betty Jean Younglove

BETTY JEAN PRUITT UNDERWOOD YOUNGLOVE August 24, 1924 ~ June 29, 2016 Betty Jean Pruitt Younglove Underwood, beloved mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister, and aunt passed away June 29, 2016 at 91 years of age, following a series of small strokes. Betty, the oldest of seven children, was born August 24, 1924, in Denver, Colorado, to Arelius and Etha Pruitt. They later moved to Etha's hometown, Webster City, Iowa, where Betty grew up. She and her sisters enjoyed the Webster City pastimes of swimming and ice skating. She met her husband, Arthur K. Underwood, after walking past the Webster City barber shop where he worked. Art joined the 101st Airborne in WWII, and they married before he was shipped overseas. He participated in the Normandy Invasion, but was captured by the Germans and became a prisoner of war. By this time, the entire Pruitt family had moved to Vancouver, Wa, where they found work at Vancouver Shipyards. When Art was released, he joined Betty in Vancouver and opened up his own barber shop, while Betty stayed home to raise their three sons - Phil and twins Dave and Dan. Art, an outgoing and story-telling fellow, died unexpectedly in a plane crash while flying his 1942 Meyers biplane at an airshow in 1970. Betty eventually connected with an old neighbor, Preston Younglove, a Lockheed engineer, whose wife had also passed away. They married in 1980 and remained together until his death in 2008. Betty, a kind, caring and generous lady loved spending time with her family, especially her nieces who provided much-needed relief from her all-male household! She loved family gatherings and picnics, where she was always talkative, asking about everyone's children and what they were up to. Betty is survived by her sons, Phillip, Daniel and David (wife Karen); her grandsons, Justin (JoAnn), Adam (Maggie), Trenton, Collin and Kolton; her great-grandson, Alistair Kingsley (Justin and JoAnn), and her brothers Rex (Barbara), Max, Larry (Eileen), and Wayne (Marion). She was preceded in death by her parents, Arelius and Etha Pruitt, husband Art Underwood, her second husband, Preston Younglove, and sisters Shirley Johnson and Marilyn Miller. Services will be held graveside at Park Hill Cemetery on Thursday, July 14, at 11:30 a.m., followed by a gathering of family and friends at Points West Club House, 128 NW 95th Circle, Vancouver, WA 98665.

Betty Jean Younglove

August 24, 1924 - June 29, 2016