September 19, 1921 – December 9, 2017
Longtime San Marino resident Betty Camomile Laue passed away on December 9 at age 96. Preceded in death by her husband of 58 years, Eric Laue, she was the doting mother of her sons Douglas Laue (Linda Laue) of Fair Oaks, California, and Dr. Thomas Laue (Dr. Janet Sullivan) of Lee, New Hampshire. She was especially proud of her grandchildren Dr. Carin Laue (Jake Buryn) of Marina del Rey, Erica Laue (Nicholas Thrasher) of Colorado Springs, and Hannah Laue, doctoral student at Harvard University. She leaves behind three great grandchildren, Nevada Laue, Miles Laue-Thrasher and Malcolm Laue-Thrasher.
Betty graduated from Stanford University magna cum laude in 1943. She then worked in Dr. Clark Millikan’s lab at Caltech as a “computer,” plotting the trajectories of test rockets and deriving the equations which described their behavior. She could add a column of numbers in her head as quickly as she could run her finger down the column and would complete New York Times crossword puzzles in ink. She will be remembered as a loving homemaker, raising her two boys and volunteering at the Pasadena Red Cross and the Huntington Hospital Thrift Shop. Betty also worked as the fill-in “Society” editor of the San Marino Tribune during summers. She was active in the Stanford Women’s Club and, as a lifelong Democrat, was a frequent poll worker in San Marino elections, when there were fewer than a handful of Democrats in the precinct.
Remembrances of Betty can be made to the American Alzheimer’s Society or by simply taking a walk in the park, making someone else feel special and just taking a moment to look at those you love and smile.
