Elizabeth

Elizabeth (Betty) Gette

Elizabeth Gette is the daughter of Andrew Gette and Elizabeth Koenig Gette. She was born on June 30, 1913 in Russia and immigrated to the United States about 1922.

Her stories about life in Russia are fascinating. She remembers the large home before the Russian Revolution and she remembers how the servants disappeared after the revolution. Riding in a horse drawn sleigh across the fields of snow to her Grandmother Koenig's home is one of her most enjoyable stories. And, there is the story of her childhood when she wanted to play but had to learn to drink tea as a young lady with her grandmother and mother.

When her mother, Elizabeth Koenig Gette, died when she was about 15. She lived in Denver with her mother's sister--Anna Marie Koenig. Known as Betty Gette, she married an attorney, Coleman Cline and they lived in Fort Worth, Texas. In Fort Worth, Betty became a mainstay of the Fort Worth Opera and sang in many operas. Betty and Coleman had one daughter, Gwendolyn.

Betty has always been very attractive and as she says "loves life." After divorcing Coleman, she married Fred Wilson and lived in Washington D.C. for a while. She moved back to Texas and remarried Coleman Cline. After Coleman's death, she moved to North Dakota to be near her sister, Barbara and family. While in North Dakota, she met Winsor Smestad and they married and moved back to Fort Worth, Texas, where "the weather was warmer" and Betty could be near her bridge friends of many years.

Betty and Coleman's daughter Gwendolyn married Gregory Perun in 1962 and they had two children--Steven Gregory Perun and Andrea Elizabeth Perun. Gregory Perun died on September 3, 1986.

Andrea married Mark Winkler and they have a daughter, Anya Winkler.