Betty Williams Sartorius

Betty Williams Sartorius, 85, died April 9 of OCPD at her assisted living apartment in Fairfax, Virginia. 

Mrs. Sartorius grew up in Marion, Kansas, and dreamed of traveling the world after reading Richard Halliburton’s Complete Book of Wonders. She earned a four-year scholarship to Kansas State University, was a Fulbright Scholar in the Netherlands, and received a master’s degree in history from Columbia University.

She met her late husband, James Sartorius, at Kansas State and they married in Amsterdam on June 20, 1953. After earning their master’s degrees at Columbia University in New York City, Mr. Sartorius became a Foreign Service Officer. They received language training in Nice and went on to posts in Cairo, Seoul, Hong Kong, Georgetown, Guyana, and Rio de Janeiro. Upon retiring, they continued to travel worldwide and memorably were in Red Square the day the Communist party was overturned in Russia.

Survivors include three children, Steven Sartorius of Summit, New Jersey, Christopher Sartorius of Fuquay Varina, North Carolina, and Sally Hardy of Hotchkiss, Colorado; and four grandchildren. The family will be interning the ashes of both their parents the afternoon of Old Settlers’ Day, Sept. 26 at Marion Cemetery alongside Betty’s parents, Albert Alan Williams and Gertrude Williams. Betty cherished her childhood friends with whom she circulated a Round Robin letter for over 60 years.