MYERS, Elizabeth Grace

The White Mountain Independent, Show Low, Arizona ~ 02/16/2016 Elizabeth Grace Myers died Jan. 19, 2016, in San Bernardino, Calif. She was born Aug. 31, 1927, in Patterson, N.J., the only child of Henry and Emilie Youngsma. The Great Depression moved the family westward, eventually settling in South Gate, Calif., where Betty would spend the next 50 years of her life. She joined the work force early as a telephone switchboard operator at the end of the Second World War. A later job on a medical exchange led to a position as a doctor’s receptionist and practical nurse, a position which she would occupy for the next 30 years and which would only end with her employer’s death. Betty was briefly married to Homer Clayton Myers, a thrice-decorated veteran of the war. With him she had three children, Gary Clayton Myers, Colleen Lynn Myers and Kenneth Wayne Myers. Betty always said she had wanted six kids but stopped at three when she saw the work involved. But she lived to see her children give her eight grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren, so maybe she had no reason to complain. Betty retired to Snowflake to be near her son, Kenneth, and his family. Only Kenneth did not survive her. Betty was laid to rest Feb. 5, at Rose Hills cemetery in Whittier, Calif.