BETTS, Velora Ruth

The Daily Courier, Prescott, Arizona, Sunday, January 26, 2014 Velora Ruth Betts, 92, of Prescott, Ariz., passed away on Jan. 22, 2014. She was born Sept. 27, 1921, in St. Charles, Ill., to Vernon and Carrie (Lehman) Barrows. Her father, a coal miner, died young from black lung. Her mother moved her and her four sisters to Montana where she grew up on her grandparents' farm at the edge of Glacier Park. Her mother was a cook at a logging camp and the girls would spend their summers with her. She loved to fish and hunt and her love of fishing lasted most of her life. She could shoot better than my dad or me and relished that fact. During WWII, she served in the WACs and was stationed in Georgia, the farthest she would ever venture from home. She met my father, Art Betts, after WWII. They lived in Montana for a while and decided the Wild West was for them. Dad had a bulldozer and built cattle tanks for ranchers around Arizona. They lived in bunkhouses or camped out for years until Dad started building highways. They lived on the Navajo Nation while he worked on Highway 160 near Tuba City. While working on what would become I-17, mom became pregnant with me after 13 years of marriage and numerous doctors telling them they couldn't have children. They decided to settle down since they had a child and moved to Prescott. They loved it there and decided to stay. Dad worked construction and at one time had the largest construction company in town. Mom and Dad had a great life there. Dad died in 1981 and Mom was on her own for the first time since 1946. She moved to the Pioneers Home in 2006 and had a rebirth; she said it was like a second childhood. I don't have the words to describe the love and care she received there. All of the people I met there are a gift from God and Mom was blessed to be there. During her last days, the Good Samaritan Hospice saints took care of her and made her passing as pleasant as possible. All of our thanks to the Pioneers Home and their employees as well the Good Samaritan Hospice nurses who took care of my mom at the end. I will always be indebted to them for all they have done for her. No services will be held at the request of my mother. Please visit www.heritagemortuary.com to sign Ruth's online guestbook. Arrangements entrusted to Heritage Memory Mortuary. Information provided by survivors.