When Merv Griffin introduced her on his show he said, “This gal has logged more hours on television than all of us put together here.” And that was in 1965! Memorials and tributes have poured in from her friends and co-stars. “Rest in peace, sweet Betty,” White’s Hot In Cleveland co-star Valerie Bertinelli wrote on Twitter. “My God, how bright heaven must be right now.” Always a light, White had such a positive and joyful outlook on life and expressed that she wasn’t afraid of dying. Especially since she would be reunited with the love her her life, Allen Ludden. As her agent and dear friend Jeff Witjas told People in a statement, “She always wanted to be with her most beloved husband Allen Ludden. She believed she would be with him again.” White had no children of her own. She often said she never regretted the choice. At the time she would have been forced to choose between her career and children. And White didn’t believe she could manage both. However, she cherished her three step-children from Ludden’s marriage to his late first wife. She saw her stepchildren David, Martha and Sarah, as a blessing. While there’s no official word on her burial or memorial service just yet, here are some possibilities.
Where will Betty White be buried?
While it has not been announced where Betty White will be buried, she will not be returned to her dear husband Allen Ludden’s side and be buried at Graceland Cemetery in Mineral Point, Wisconsin. The cemetery is about 50 miles southwest of Madison. The pair, who met on Password, the show that Ludden hosted, were married from 1963 until his 1981 death from stomach cancer. Ludden was just 64 when he died five days shy of the couple’s 18th wedding anniversary. White, who had been married twice before Ludden, never married again. “When you’ve had the best, who needs the rest,” White told Couric. “He was special.” White’s death certificate lists her legal name as Betty Marion Ludden, which means she retained her third husband’s last name after his death. For the residents of Mineral Point, it would have been the ultimate honor for White to join her soulmate. “Allen Ludden and Betty White is our connection to Hollywood here in Mineral Point,” the town’s mayor Jason Basting told WBAY. “For a small town of 2,600 people, it’s pretty neat to have that kind of connection and she’s a legend.” Another possibility is near her cherished home in Carmel, California which she lived in with Ludden. They purchased the land for the house for $170,000 in 1978. The 3,600-square-foot dream home is said to have two bedrooms and five bathrooms and lies before the Pacific Ocean. Back in 2017 she offered a tongue-in-cheek Cribs-style tour of her home. Or perhaps she will be returned to her hometown of Oak Park, Illinois, where she lived before the family moved to California when she was less than 2 years old. (There is even a petition to designate A Betty White Day in Oak Park.) Created by Konrad Juengling, before she passed away, he wrote, “Betty White is a national treasure. She’s been an entertainer for over eight decades and is still going strong. She was on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Golden Girls, and Hot in Cleveland, putting a smile on our faces all the while. Oak Park, White’s hometown in Illinois, should honor her by creating a Betty White Day on her birthday, January 17.” As of press time, the petition had more than 3,695 signatures. We will update this space with more details about Betty White’s burial when details are released.
Was Betty White cremated?
Yes! Betty White was cremated and her remains were given to Glenn Kaplan, the man in charge of White’s advanced health care directive, according to the Associated Press. Next, Everything We Know So Far About Betty White’s Funeral and Memorial Services
