Born on Feb. 19, 1931, in Malone, she was the daughter of Henry and Dora Durant.

The family moved to Lake Placid where Henry was a butcher at Macomber Grocery and Dora worked at the Homestead.

Betty Jean was a graduate of Lake Placid High School. She met her husband Glen Bickford, and they raised their three sons in Keene Valley until his untimely death at the age 52. He was a teacher at Keene Central School.

Having been a homemaker her married life, Betty Jean moved the three boys to Lake Placid, where she took various jobs while raising the boys as a single mother. She was a very talented seamstress, sewing most of the clothes worn by the family. She worked at Razook’s Dress Store on Main Street as a seamstress doing alterations and later as a librarian at the Lake Placid Public Library for many years. She always spoke so happily of the stories of working at those jobs and how much she loved the friends she made working, as well as friends she made on the Main Street.

In her retirement years, Betty Jean spent many hours each day doing what she loved most — knitting hats for babies and toddlers. For a number of years she would pack them up and send them to an orphanage in Philadelphia. She took such pride in picking the colors and coordinating them for boys and girls. Later, she donated the little knitted hats to the town of North Elba Christmas Fund and St. Agnes Christmas tree. Betty Jean read ferociously and loved listening to books on tape once she discovered that! Her friends at the library would keep her in supply of everything she wanted and we thank them for the joy they brought her. Betty Jean was a lifelong Catholic and member of St. Agnes Church. Once she was unable to attend Mass, she listened to it on her portable radio every morning at 6.

Betty Jean was predeceased by her husband Glenn and sons David and Michael, as well as an infant baby, Catherine.

She is survived by her son Stephen Bickford, previously of Scottsdale, Arizona and now of Saranac Lake; her devoted friend and niece, Judy King of Saranac Lake; and many nieces and nephews in the area.

A graveside service will take place at 10 a.m. Thursday, June 15 at the North Elba Cemetery. The Rev. John Yonkovig will officiate.

The M. B. Clark, Inc., Funeral Home in Lake Placid is in charge of arrangements.

Visit www.mbclarkfuneralhome.com to share a memory, sign the guest book or leave condolences.