My cousin Betty Mullendore passed on recently at age 99. Betty was always an ardent environmentalist in her own quiet way and a lifelong and generous benefactor to the Audubon Society.

I would always send her copies of my letters to the Charleston Gazette and copies of The Highlands Voice. About 20 years ago, she proudly announced to me that she was becoming a member of the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, even though she lived near Gaithersburg, Maryland. 

Betty loved and studied birds and wildflowers. She kept an extensive notebook describing all of the wildflowers she ever encountered. 

On the last day of September, most of my extended family gathered at my farm in Gilmer County to celebrate her life and scatter her ashes among the wildflowers she loved.

Bill Dwyer
Gilmer County, WV