Obituary of Elizabeth "Betty" Irene Schroeder

Elizabeth Irene (Groff) Schroeder Born Wheeling, West Virginia August 4, 1925 to March 1, 2014 Our beloved Mother, Wife and Grandmother Betty has passed after a successful 5 decade battle with the rare metabolic disorder "Formiminotransferase Deficiency." She is survived by her three sons Groff Martin Schroeder, William Robert Schroeder and Roger Raybun Schroeder, her grandson Maxwell Armstrong Schroeder (Groff), her daughter-in-laws Kristin (Skoog) Schroeder (Groff), Paula Rose (Heckman) Schroeder (William) and her loving poodle Bruno.Awaiting her in her new journey is her loving husband of 41 years Lt. Colonel George Robert "Roll me over-I'm not dead" Schroeder, Mother Marie (Gates) Groff, Father William E. Groff, Brother William Groff and Brother Robert E Groff as well as "Nugget" and the three "Taffys."The first human to receive "Toyal Parenteral Nutrition" in 1967 as intracardiac fractionated horse serum, her determination to live under terrible suffering also assisted in the development of elemental diets both technologies now saving the lives of critically Ill patients. She was a fine artist, outstanding author, biologist, historian and genealogist and a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. During the cold war, as secretary to the famed rocket scientist Werner VonBraun, she uncovered a foreign spy! She married her handsome soldier George, the love of her life, 11 days after meeting him in China Lake, California in 1951. Together they were surrogate parents to Air Force Academy Cadets, Adopted a Nun (they were Protestant) as well as a Pediatrician (Dr Lawrence Smith MD) and the Egyptian Minister of Agriculture under Anwar Sadat. Our family would like to thank Colonel Robert H. Herman, MD (US Army) for his brilliance in diagnosing her mysterious disease and the other fine physicians (Drs Green, Rosensweig, Barrick and Blonder) whose compassion made her miraculous and long life possible. We would also like to thank the staff and physicians of Evercare for their assistance during her final days. We also thank Ruthie and Larry Hartle, Kurt Wheeler and John and Esther Lucero for their loving care. Finally, we thank her youngest son Roger who made great sacrifices to allow her to Pass in her home of fifty years.Mom, we love you and will always love you. Now you can eat whatever you want! BettyNo you didn't die and chose to live.To many unknown names life you did give.No force on Earth could your burden lift.No gift can measure what your suffering did.I know there were times you wanted to leaveAnd escape the bodily prison over which now we grieveThere is no answer when the flesh does betrayAnd now I wonder what it was that made you stay.In a world of sickness, madness and horrid painHow can one woman's bravery ever be explained?I many times shared in those of your darkest hoursWhere hope seemed gone and your faith was devoured.As your illness deepened with each passing dayI often cried and wondered why you did stay. You fought for many, chose to live, now pass away. They will not know of you but I know your name. BettyFuneral Home:The Springs Funeral Services3115 East Platte AvenueColorado Springs, , COUS 80909 Events Service Tuesday, March 4, 2014 2:00PM - 5:00PM The Springs Funeral Services 3115 East Platte Avenue Colorado Springs, CO 80909 Phone: 719-207-8855