CORDERO (Johnson),
Elizabeth Lee "Betty"
Born on August 4, 1922, Betty passed away peacefully at her home in Dayton, Ohio, on Sept 1, 2022, four weeks after celebrating her 100th birthday surrounded by all her loving family. Betty's long and full life revolved around music, from her late teens playing trombone in an all-girl band for the USO in Minnesota during WWII, to her early days as a band teacher in Wolf Point, Montana, to 61 years of marriage and support of the musical career of her husband, Dr. Roque Cordero, Panamanian Composer. This journey included 16 early years spent in Panamá and later Roque's long- time professorship at Illinois State University. As a piano teacher in her own right, she developed her own methods and materials to privately teach countless students, also creating and dedicating her own piano compositions, especially for family members. She was preceded in death by her devoted husband Roque, son Ricardo Lee (Kathy) Cordero, and parents Martha Lee and Joseph Melvin Johnson. Betty is survived by her sons Dimitri "DJ" (Trudy) Cordero and Rogelio (Consuelo) Cordero, daughter-in-law Kathy (Ric) Cordero, 9 grandchildren: Nicolás (Lindsay), Arel (Mao), Diana, Cristine, Gina (Karim) Abdur-Rahman, Rebecca (Aaron) Willard, Ro-el, Teresa, and Victoria, and 8 great-grandchildren: Laina, Dominic, Saffiya, Eliza, Zaynab, Nasreen, Dylan and Lenora. According to Betty's wishes for cremation and no funeral service, the family plans a private interment at the Mausoleum at historic Woodland Cemetery, in Dayton, Ohio.
Cordero, Elizabeth
