Betty Bernice Olson

      Betty Olson of Baker City, died on Saturday, December 26, 2020 at Settler's Park Senior Living Community.  A Celebration of Betty's Life will be held in 2021 (place, date & time to be announced)

     Betty Bernice Brown was born in Long Beach, California, on Armistice Day November 11, 1918 to Vera Vanetta Brown and George Talmadge Brown. Vera Brown went into labor during the "End-of-World War I Celebration" and Betty Bernice Brown came into the world.

     Betty grew up in the San Francisco Boardwalk area, helping her brother, Dean, and their mother run their concession stands and shooting gallery. As a child growing up in the Roaring Twenties, and a teenager in her ’30s, she loved to dance to the big band music, and that love of dancing stayed with her for her entire life.

     Betty graduated from Cal University and soon after married Richard Wilson, her college sweetheart. Judy and Leslie Wilson were her first two daughters from that marriage: In 1954, when she was 37, she re-married George Lenord Olson and soon after her third and final daughter, Loretta Jean Olson, was born. They moved from the bay area to Northern California in 1960 and bought a small farm in Live Oak where they built a home, worked, farmed, and raised family.  Many dogs, cats, chickens, horses and various rescued birds were part of the mix and a large garden grew much of the family food for over 44 years. During that time Betty worked for the Employment Development Department (EDD) in California. She was highly involved in the Lions Club and even became the president of the Lioness Club in the local chapter. She also volunteered as a pink lady at the local hospital for many years and helped run a soup kitchen through church outreach programs.

     In 2004, when Betty was 86, she moved with her daughter, Loretta, to Baker County and lived with her extended family in the Rock Creek area of Haines. She continued the ranch life in that area. There, she spent her days making it a point to stay healthy, and walking daily, sometimes even one to two miles per day. In 2014, she became a resident of Settler's Park in Baker City, where she resided until her death.

     A very social person, Betty easily made many friends and touched the lives of many throughout her life, always giving back to her family, friends, and community in countless ways. She was an outdoors woman who loved animals and nature, camping and fishing. One goal of hers was to live to 100...She surpassed that goal and lived to be 102.

     Betty is survived by her daughter Loretta Baker and her husband Jim Danford of Sumpter, Oregon; four grandchildren Elizabeth Allen, Vera Allen, Sarah Smith and Peter Baker; 3 great grandchildren Adrian, Ivan and Lita. Betty is preceded in death by her husband George and daughters Judy and Leslie Wilson.

     For those who would like to make a memorial donation in memory of Betty, the family suggests St. Jude's Children's Hospital  in Boise, Idaho through Tami's Pine Valley Funeral Home & Cremation Services PO Box 543 Halfway, Oregon 97834. Online condolences may be shared at www.tamispinevalleyfuneralhome.com