Betty Mickens, a member of the Greatest Generation and the last survivor of ten children born of Hungarians immigrants, has died at the age of ninety-eight. After a long and full life, she spent the last several years in steadily declining health at the Otterbein-Portage Valley Retirement Community where she died on April 18. Elizabeth was born in East Toledo on August 2, 1920 to Stephen and Vilma (Pócza) Szabó, immigrants from different parts of Hungary who had met and wedded some years earlier in Elkhart, Indiana. Betty was fiercely proud of her Hungarian roots and even prouder of being a first generation, native-born US citizen. Hers was a truly American story, a member of an immigrant family that lived through the Great Depression and whose sons served in World War II. She was the seventh of the ten Sabo children (the name was eventually changed) who were from Ironville and the Birmingham neighborhood in East Toledo, for many years on Paine Avenue. Like many Hungarian-Americans in the area, she was baptized into the Christian faith at St. Stephen's Roman Catholic Parish. Betty married Robert Anthony Mickens – a WWII veteran and lifelong civil servant – at the former Holy Rosary Parish in 1940 and two years later they had a son, Robert Steven, who died of cancer in 1999. A former resident of White St. on the East Side, Ondrus Rd. in Rossford and Glenross Blvd. in Oregon, Betty worked at the old Food Town supermarket until she and her husband moved to Davenport, Iowa in 1963. A decade later, after her husband took early retirement from the US Government, the couple moved to Las Vegas where he worked at the MGM Grand Hotel and she was a chef at the Holiday Casino and the Hilton Hotel. Betty and Bob returned to the Toledo area in 1991 and built a home in Northwood. He preceded her in death in January 2004, not long after their 63rd wedding anniversary. It was just a few months after they had begun independent living at the Otterbein campus – as ever, on the east side of the Maumee River! The first several months as a widow were particularly difficult for Betty, who had spent her entire life in what she always called the "perfect marriage". As a young woman, petite and attractive, Betty was an impeccable dresser. Her outfits included matching shoes, gloves and purse. And, oh, did she love her jewelry! But at home she was always in a smock or housedress, fully in command of her own realm – the kitchen. She loved to cook, especially Hungarian favorites such as chicken paprikas, székely gulyás, stuffed peppers, cabbage & noodles and chicken soup. Up until a decade or so ago she was also an avid baker who took pride in her Hungarian cookies, torts, pies and date-nut breads. Her gnarled and arthritis-ridden fingers were a visible testimony to the endless hours she spent preparing her delicious meals, often with a paring knife in hand. For many years she imitated the custom of her parents by keeping a substantial garden, replete with herbs and vegetables often hard to find in local stores, but necessary for her Old World delicacies. And local grocers can attest that she was one tough customer who never let a butcher get away with selling her a "lousy" piece of meat! As anyone who knew her would readily agree, Betty was a real character who always spoke her mind. She loved being with younger people, and would seize every opportunity to shock them by making inappropriate and outrageous – usually hilarious – comments. She was impish and mischievous, and could be stubborn and punishing. But she never (or, at least, rarely) held a grudge. Betty was a lifelong Catholic, most recently a member of the St. John XXIII Community in Perrysburg. She believed in the Church's power to get people on the track to heaven. However, that did not stop her from enjoying a good, off-color joke! Her favorite card game was Old Maid and she would laugh hysterically when someone other than her got stuck with the "old girl". Also known as Bözsi néni (Hungarian for Old Aunty Betty) throughout her life, she continued to speak the Magyar language in which she uttered her first words as a toddler. One of the highlights of her life, and the biggest trip that she and her husband ever took, was to her parent's homeland in 1996 with the Hungarian Club of Toledo. "Nanny" will be greatly missed by her three grandchildren – Robert Carl Mickens of Rome, Italy; William Steven (Kim) Mickens of South Charleston, OH; and Elizabeth Ann Mickens of Las Vegas. She also leaves five great-grandchildren to cherish her memory – Mick, Hunter (Kelly) and Alexis Mickens of South Charleston; Meghan (Joel Russell) Mickens and Nicolas Cantu of Las Vegas; and three great-great-grandchildren – Ryder and Preslee Mickens of South Charleston and River Jayce Russell of Las Vegas; as well as several nieces and nephews. In addition to her parents, husband and son, Betty was preceded in death by her siblings and their spouses: Steve (Marge), Joe, Louie, Bill (Evelyn), John (Angie) and Theresa Sabo, plus Velma (Bill) Kutch and Margaret (Meier) Friedman. A funeral Mass will be celebrated on Saturday, April 27, at 11:00 a.m. at St. Stephen's Catholic Church. Visitation will begin one hour prior to the liturgy. Interment will be at a later date at Lake Township Cemetery where most of Betty's family and many friends are buried. Her family wishes to thank the nurses, staff and residents of Otterbein for their care and kindness, and also the caregivers of Hospice of Northwest Ohio for their services, as well as Fr Herb Weber and the people of St John XXIII Community who became the friends who looked after her spiritual needs. Her grandchildren – Bobby, Billy and Beth – are especially thankful to Annette (Sabo) Johnson, Betty's niece, for generously helping them oversee their grandmother's care in her final years.