ELIZABETH REYNOLDS JELINEK BOARDMAN, 91, died on Sunday, September 28,2008, at Centre Crest Nursing Home in Bellefonte, PA. Betty was born on August 8, 1917, on a cherry farm near Sturgeon Bay, WI, the daughter of the late Benjamin Jelinek and Elizabeth Ellis Reynolds Jelinek. She grew up in Milwaukee, WI, and went to the University of Wisconsin Madison, where she earned a B.S. degree in Landscape Architecture in 1940. Shortly thereafter, Betty married Eugene Powers Boardman, and went with him to Hawaii, where he was in the Marine Corps studying vernacular Japanese. They were able to see the attack on Pearl Harbor from the Punch Bowl where they were living. Their first child was born in Honolulu six weeks later. Gene and Betty had five more children, whom they brought up in Madison, WI, where Gene was a professor of Asian History at the University of Wisconsin. Eugene died in August 1987.
Most of Betty's adult life was spent in Madison, except for a year working in Washington, D.C.; one year in Tokyo, Japan; ten years living in Groton, MA, next door to her daughter Erika; and seven years in Bellefonte-two with her daughter Susan, and five at Centre Crest. Betty practiced landscape architecture when possible, but spent most her out-of-home energy working for peace in the world. One major effort was a sailing trip to North Vietnam in 1967 with other Quakers to take medical supplies to those people suffering from war and its byproducts. She wrote a book detailing this effort- The Phoenix Trip: Notes on a Quaker Mission to Haiphong, published by Celo Press in 1985. Betty had been a Quaker since 1948. She was a member of the Madison Friends Meeting for many years, and a regular attender at the State College Friends Meeting since she moved to the area in July 2001, and as long as her health permitted.
Betty was an avid seamstress, knitter, reader, and gardener. An accomplished cook, she introduced foods from around the world to her family years before such activity became fashionable. She had a well-developed sense of the ludicrous in life, at which she and her family and friends roared with laughter. She played the cello, and sang in many choirs. She loved good conversation. But Betty enjoyed her family most of all, and delighted in her babies and growing kids. She is survived by her younger brother David C. Jelinek and his wife Dorothy, in Berryville, VA. She is also survived by her six children: Susan Boardman, Bellefonte PA; Sarah Furnas and her husband Andrew Heckert, Philadelphia PA; Krist Boardman and his wife Dianne, Joppatowne MD; Erika Kraft and her husband Douglas, Sacramento CA; Andrew Boardman, Madison WI; and Benjamin Boardman and his wife Terri, Melrose WI. In addition, she is survived by nine grandchildren: Jennifer Poulter, Barnaby Furnas, Caleb Furnas, Kimberley Boardman, Alexander Boardman, Nathan Kraft, Damon Kraft, Catherine Boardman, and Owen Boardman; as well as six great-grandchildren, two sisters-in-law, and numerous nieces and nephews. In addition to her husband and parents, she was predeceased by two brothers, Benjamin Jelinek and Richard Frank Jelinek.
Betty's memorial service will be held at the State College Friends Meeting at 611 E. Prospect Avenue on Tuesday, October 14, at 7:30 p.m. A second memorial service will be held at the Madison Friends Meeting, 1704 Roberts Court, Madison WI, on Friday, Otober 24, 2008, at 6:00 p. m.
Memorial contributions may be sent to Centre Crest Nursing Home in Bellefonte, 502 E. Howard St., Bellefonte, PA 16823; or to the Madison Friends Meeting, 1704 Roberts Court, Madison WI, 53711
A guest book can be signed or condolences sent to the family at www.heintzelmanfuneralhome.com