BAXTER - Betty J. (nee Gertis) A memorial service to celebrate the live of Betty will be held on August 1, 2020 at 11:30AM at Phoenix United Church of Christ, 1280 N. French Rd., Amherst, NY 14228. Betty passed away on April 16, 2020 at the age of 94. Loving mother of Laurie (Frank Horucy) Peterson and the late Paul Jason Baxter, Geraldine Anderson and Rev. Deborah Baxter; cherished Grandma of Breanne (Patrick) Callahan; dear sister of the late Viola (Joseph) Healey, Carlton (Mary Jane) and Chester (Hedy) Gertis; survived by many loving nephews and nieces. Dear friend of Ruth Horucy.
In lieu of flowers, please make donation to Hospice Foundation, P.O. Box 590 Buffalo, NY 14240-0590 or
Buffalo Underdogs Rescue, PO Box 180, Amherst, NY 14226. Arrangements by C. MERTZ AND SON FUNERAL HOME, INC.
Today was probably one of the hardest day in my life accompanied with a slight sigh of relief. 😭 April 16, 2020 at approximately 12:15ish, the world lost one of the strongest, most stubborn, sassy, beautiful, kind-hearted women I knew. She accepted everyone into her life with open arms and loved like no other. She played such a huge role in my life over the past 31 years and I am forever grateful to be able to say that my mom is her mom, and I am my mom! 💔 With that said, gram had been dealing with dementia and had been having more bad days than good the past few months. This past weekend things took another turn when she suddenly lost the ability to speak, eat, drink, move (possibly from a stroke?)...some amazing hospice nurses came to the house on Wednesday to help make her comfortable and today, she decided it was time to go join Paul, Debbie, Geri and ton of other family and friends waiting up there for her (probably with a 7/7 neat 🤣) When I say with a sigh of relief, it is never easy to lose a loved one but it is even harder to watch them suffer, and gram not being to walk or talk...she was suffering. I hate the saying "she is in a better place", so please don't say that me, but she is at peace now and she is with 3 out of 4 children she lost over the past 10 years (which no parent should have to deal with and she did it 3 times!). My grandma would have been 95 years old in just over a month (May 19th), she lived an amazing life full of travel, love, motherhood, heartbreak, joy, family and friends. We may have wanted to live forever but she never wanted too, she hated the idea and would tell me that "living forever sounds awful". So as heartbroken as I am that she is gone, I am thankful that she is finally at peace.
If you have made it this far in this long post, thank you lol! With this current upside down world we are living in, things are a bit different and it is very difficult to handle. Due to the current circumstances, we are unable to have a traditional wake/funeral. Due to this, we have decided that Grandma will be cremated and we will be having a memorial service once the world stops ending, we will keep everyone posted on details as we know more.
As far as people who want to do something, we know that is typical for this situation however at the moment, there really is nothing that can be done 😥 (unless you can make it stop snowing) We truly appreciate all of the love and support, we love you all. If you have any photos or stories, please feel free to share, we love to hear your memories of her ❤