February 6, 1925 - August 3, 2025
Bradenton, Florida - Betty Lane Barczak died peacefully at age 100 with family at her bedside on Aug. 3, 2025 at Westminster Point Pleasant in Bradenton, Florida.
She was born on Feb. 6, 1925 in Waycross, Georgia to George Allen Lane, a member of the Florida House of Representatives, and Alice Wilson Lee Morton Lane, a member of the Lee family of Virginia.
Raised in Tampa, St. Petersburg and Bradenton, Florida, she graduated from Bradenton High School, now Manatee High School, in 1943.
A member of the Greatest Generation, Betty worked as a secretary at Sarasota Field, Florida (now Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport), and Langley Field, Virginia (now Langley Air Force Base) during World War II, where she met her husband, U.S. Army Air Corps B-17 pilot John Valentine Barczak, of Chicago, Illinois when he returned from overseas duty in England.
After their marriage, they lived in Chicago, where Betty worked as a secretary at the SOS company. When the couple relocated to Bradenton, she worked at the Asbury Towers retirement home (now Westminster Point Pleasant) as a secretary and in marketing, while John transferred from the Sears corporate office in Chicago to the Sarasota Sears retail store.
The Barczaks were members of St. Joseph Catholic Church and the Bradenton Country Club, and were admired on dance floors from the church hall to the Trianon Ballroom in Chicago.
Betty also enjoyed water skiing, Anna Maria Island's beaches, which she recalled her family reaching by car ferry before there were any bridges, Olympic ice skating and gymnastics, working on her high school reunion committees, playing puzzle games and dining out with family.
She was predeceased by her parents; her husband; her sisters, Bobbie Juanita Lane Parker and Mary Alice Lane Valentine; and her foster sister, Minnie Lee Cotton. She is survived by her daughter, Cynthia Lane, of Bradenton; and many beloved nieces, nephews and friends.
She will be fondly remembered for many things, especially her love for family and friends, her graceful courage, her cheerful whistling and her impeccable fashion sense.
A funeral Mass will be offered at St. Bernard Catholic Church, 248 S. Harbor Drive, Holmes Beach, Florida on Thursday, Sept. 4 at 11 a.m. followed by a private burial.
