Betty Jean Holmes Krusmark, 85, of Demopolis, Alabama, passed away peacefully on Thursday, March 22, 2018 at Brookdale University Park in Birmingham.

Mrs. Krusmark was born on Jan. 23, 1933 and raised in Brewton, Alabama, where she graduated from T.R. Miller High School in 1951. She met her future husband Karl Krusmark while he was attending flight school at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Florida, and they were married in Brewton in 1952 after he was commissioned as a Naval officer. In 1962 they moved their family to Demopolis to operate Krusmark Oil Company and grew their business to include a gift shop, plant nursery, landscaping service, and floral design service. Working together as a family, they continued to own and operate their business as Country Garden & Gifts until their retirement in 2001.

Mrs. Krusmark was a dedicated wife to her husband, Karl, and a loving mother and “Nana” to her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Her proudest accomplishment was her family and the legacy that she and her husband created. She will be deeply missed by all who knew her, but her family rejoices in knowing that she is finally reunited with loved ones who passed before her, including her beloved Karl, always in her heart.

She is preceded in death by her husband of 56 years, Karl Louis Krusmark Jr.; parents, Olan R. Holmes and Bessie Ruth Holmes; son, Karl L. “Butch” Krusmark III; grandsons, Jason Anthony Morgan, Elijah Kruse West and Roman Graeme West; brother, Tony R. Holmes; and a sister, Katherine Holmes Smith.

She is survived by five daughters: Deborah Jean Hilderbrandt (Jim) of Fairhope; Charlotte Ann Vollnogle (Jon) of New Waterford, Ohio; Karla Irene Bahr (Mike) of Hoover, Alabama; Laura Lea Morgan (Joey) of Demopolis; and Kristina Lynn Krusmark (Michael Buchanan) of Homewood, Alabama. She is also survived by 12 grandchildren: Megan Gardner Weinstein (Scott), Anna Hilderbrandt Wall (Andrew), Gerald Wilhelm (Betsy), Kimberly Wilhelm Louk (Josh), Hannah Vollnogle, Christopher Bahr (Ashley), Lauren Bahr Marefka (Adam), Leslie Bahr Lee (Corey), Amanda Krusmark West (David), Kurt Krusmark (Coleman), Carrie Morgan Wilson (Colby), and Laura Kathryn Morgan; by eighteen great-grandchildren; and by her sister, Barbara “Bobbie” Holmes Kelly.

Services were held Saturday, March 24, at Kirk Funeral Home in Demopolis with visitation at 11 a.m. and memorial service at noon; the Rev. Tommy Carr officiated.