Nonagenarian Thrives on Crosswords Without a Cross Word

You know the adage, “A crossword puzzle a day helps keep the doctor away?” Well, then, you have no knowledge of Betty Gerlach of Topton, who is in near perfect health and who has been a huge fan of the word game for about 71 years.

Her interest in the game grew in 1940 when she was employed by Chemical Bank and Trust Company in New York City, N.Y.

“I always bought a copy of The New York Herald Tribune and worked on the puzzle on the train before work,” she recalls.

Her crossword hobby came to a halt in 1942 the year she married her sweetheart Earl Gerlach, who was in Officers Candidate School in Fort Monmouth, N.J., at the time. After the war, the couple settled in Topton with their three children, daughter, Barbara, and twins, Bob and Jeanie. It was Shirley G. Ziegler, a neighbor friend, who
inspired Betty to start working on puzzles again.

“I often visited Shirley at her home and we would work on the LA Times Sunday crossword puzzle,” Betty says. “She was a whiz.”

When Shirley died, her two sons, Terry L., 58, and Barry L., 62, of Longswamp Township carried on the tradition by making sure Betty had access to the LA Times
puzzles. Her daily paper published the NY Times puzzle and in Betty’s words … “it’s not as much fun.” Terry used to put his unanswered puzzle in her newspaper box on his way to work on Mondays and then Betty and her caretaker would work on it and try to fill in every word. Now that Betty’s daily provides the LA puzzle, Terry is relieved of his duties. Barry, on the other hand, is still in the game. He puts
his finished puzzle in Betty’s newspaper box and then she checks her answers and fills in the blanks (if any!) in red ink on his puzzle. She then mails it back to him.

“He’s as good as his mother,” says Betty, who knows a thing or two about keeping friendships, too.

Originally published in The Reading Merchandiser, April 2011.