Elizabeth Elaine Logsdon was born in Buffalo, New York to S. Franklin and Anne (Lauder) Logsdon on August 18, 1933.

Preceded in death by her husband Ted Bowman, son Scott Bowman, parents Frank & Annie Logsdon, husband Rex Roth, step-son Jim Roth (Michele), and her beloved pup Brutus. She is survived by her daughter Beth Byrne (Brad), her adored grandchildren AJ Wyatt, Nikki Wyatt Sanders (Spencer), Shelby Wyatt, and Jordan Wyatt, and her step sons Bob Roth and Jeff Roth (Becky).

Betty spent many years as a child living in London, Ontario, Canada where she studied piano and used her talents to play for radio broadcasts and Bible conferences. Her father, Franklin, was a pastor, including a short term at Moody Church in Chicago. She met her first husband, Ted, when she attended Wheaton College. They were married in 1954, and lived and taught at Midwest Military Academy in Wheaton, Illinois while they helped build their house across the street.  She was teaching 50 piano and organ students at home each week when she had her son, Scott, on her birthday on August 18, 1958. Three years later she delivered Beth, also on her birthday, in 1961. August was like Christmas in the Bowman household!  Scott came down with encephalitis when he was 5, nearly died, and had to learn to walk and talk all over again. He went on to live a productive life until he passed away in 2006, but Betty helped him all along the way. Betty began playing piano and arranging music for the Murk Family around the same time. When she found herself a single parent with a special needs son shortly after, the concerts, traveling, and recording albums became a full time job. Beth began playing flute and traveling with the group as well, doing concerts in 49 states, all over Central and South America, and Europe by 1976.

Though Betty never hung up her piano fingers, she did retire from full time music and went back to school. She got her Master's Degree at Northern Illinois University and got in on the ground floor of Performax, working with John Geier, who developed the original DiSC Personal Profile System, and her business partner Bob Picha. She consulted and ran seminars all over Illinois and surrounding states and tracked and managed the consultant compensation for the whole company for many years. She always considered this such a gift as she was able to be at home more and could be a support for Scott and still pay the bills. She was very involved in music at Ginger Creek Community Church, often the token "chick in the band" on a Sunday morning, playing and arranging for worship services, and playing at the Christmas tea every year at Drury Lane. She played piano many different places, always willing to use the gifts that God gave her.

Betty always had an open door in her home, often having people over for some deep conversation or counseling, music and worship team rehearsals, and huge party gatherings. When Beth was in high school it became a place for kids to hang out. Her friends would stop by and visit with Betty even if Beth was not at home! She often had people living with her when they needed a temporary place to stay, even when it meant giving up her own bed. Betty was a very unselfish, generous, giving person. She added a second floor to the house in the 90's so that she had more room to share with others. Betty hosted small groups, seminars, family reunions, and even hosted her Wheaton College class reunions. Through the years she kept in contact with most of her old friends, including Rex Roth (he and his wife, Shirley, were good friends of Betty and Ted's in college), who she ended up marrying in 2011. Betty and Rex enjoyed entertaining, serving in church, garage saling ("garaging", as she called it) and hanging with the car club in one of their classic cars. Within a few years Betty began showing signs of dementia, and then a couple years later Rex started having physical difficulties, so they ended up with a live-in caretaker (primarily Betty Berg) and a lot of help from their wonderful neighbor, Susan Keele ("adopted daughter"), without whom it would have been impossible for them to stay in the house. Dear, sweet Rex passed away in December 2021 and left a huge hole in everyone's lives. Betty continued to live in the house until August of 2022; it was then sold for the first time EVER.  She moved in to memory care at Anthology of Wheaton where she was taken care of fabulously until the day she went to be with Jesus. The staff loved her, and many cried when she was gone. For the last few years Betty had difficulty remembering who people were, even Rex and Beth. It was very painful to watch her brilliant, creative, and quick mind so ravaged by Alzheimer's. Such a cruel disease! But she was loved on until the end, keeping the twinkle in her eye and sense of humor.

Betty loved well. Her biggest love was her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. She was always an amazing example of faith and trust in God, even through very difficult times. She wrote a wonderful song many years ago called "Sometimes I Wonder Why" at a time when she felt very alone and struggled with all the responsibilities that God had allowed in her life. The song shared her heart and her questions about suffering, tears, and the world, but it ended with knowing that all she really needed was God's love and strength, that He was enough, and it didn't really matter why things were hard. She loved her parents dearly, speaking of them often during her illness. While being a caretaker for Scott, she also cared for her mom for many years until she died. She loved her children, and unselfishly gave her life to do anything for them that they needed. She especially loved her 4 grandchildren, who she helped take care of when they were little, also taking them on many field trips to Cosley, the zoo, concerts, and other adventures. It was a tradition to take the train downtown and eat under the tree at Marshall Fields every year for over three decades.

She loved her son-in-law Brad, who she knew long before Beth met him and always claimed to be the catalyst for them getting together. She recognized Brad and gave him hugs long after she could no longer even remember who Beth was.  She loved dancing – she took lessons and even competed a bit with her dance partner, Jim Cerceo, back in the 90s. She loved Rex. They had some wonderful years together before the dementia hit. She loved people. She loved her friends and was fiercely loyal. And she LOVED music. Piano was a huge part of her life for almost 9 decades. She played piano up until about a month before she died, always protecting her hands and her wrists so nothing would interfere with her ability to play. She could compose and arrange in her head, and could play pretty much anything she heard by ear. She was amazing. And very smart. She skipped two grades in school, and loved math so much she redid her whole college trigonometry book in her 20's!

She also loved chocolate ice cream. A lot. And cookies. Her last meal two days before she died was a whole pint of chocolate ice cream. She even managed to make "mmmm mmmmmmm" sounds as she struggled to swallow. She went out happy. <3

And for all who wonder and have asked, the Steinway grand is now with Beth. J

A Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, April 1 ^st at 2:00pm at Wheaton Academy in the Fine Arts Auditorium. The family will be available afterwards to visit if you would like to stay.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent in support of Naomi's House , Select Gift Fund and should choose "Naomi's House, Memory of Elizabeth Bowman Roth."

Checks should be payable to The Moody Church

On the memo line: In memory of Elizabeth Bowman Roth

Mail to:  Finance Office

The Moody Church

1635 N LaSalle Dr

Chicago, IL 60614