Betty Bennett
born Betty Ann Christiansen on Oct. 7, 1920, in Redfield, S.D., died peacefully on April 16, 2015, at home in Tucson. She was 94, blessed with a wonderful family who loved and admired her immeasurably. She was a beautiful woman, who graced any setting. Betty suffered losses that might have crushed many, but she was strong. Her first two husbands were pilots killed in military service in the 1940s. Her three daughters, Lyle, by Lyle Peters, and Beth and Carol, by Ralph Janes, lost their fathers at very early ages. Betty was left to care for her girls on her own, but with the support of her family. Lyle, Beth and Carol were raised with love and devotion. Betty's father, Martin, a Norwegian immigrant and his Indiana-born wife, Ann, established a general store in Redfield: Christiansen's Grocery and Locker Plant, where Betty worked as a girl. During the depression years her father instilled important values, such as generously extending credit to his fellow townsmen in need. She maintained many lifelong friendships from her Redfield home town. After high school, Betty graduated from the Eitel Hospital Nursing College in Minneapolis. She worked as a registered nurse for two years before marrying and becoming a mother and full-time homemaker. Betty and her daughters lived in Salem, Or., from 1954 until 1962, then moved to Tucson in 1962 after Betty married her third husband, John (Jim) Bennett. For more than 50 years, they lived in the old Fort Lowell area. Jim died in 2013. After a rain, Betty often found ancient Hohokam potshards, old horse shoes and other Fort Lowell Calvary relics in the creosote-scented desert around her home. Betty and Jim enjoyed many wonderful trips to the Caribbean, Hawaii, New Zealand, Panama Canal, England, France and Italy. Betty grew to love Tucson and the desert, but her family and friends in Oregon were always in her thoughts. When she moved to Salem in the early 1950s, she built her house next to that of her sister, Eleanor "Nornie'' Scheiss. Both homes had views of Mount Hood and the Willamette River and Valley, and were surrounded by acres of woods, forests and wild orchards where all the cousins roamed and played. The two families vacationed each summer on the Oregon coast at Neskowin. The Oregon gang would make their way to Tucson in the winter for sunshine and warmth. Brother Tom Christiansen would show up from Montana with an ice chest full of walleye and smoked goose. Betty is is survived by her sister, "Nornie,'' of Salem, Or.; brother, Tom, of Great Falls, Mt.; daughters, Lyle Janes, Beth Janes (Alan Scott), and Carol (Glenn) Masquelier, all of Tucson; granddaughter, Sarah (Agustin) Rubio, and great-grandchildren, Aiden and Ethan Rubio, all of Seattle. "Aunt Betty" leaves many nieces and nephews in western Oregon, the children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of Ed and Nornie Schiess. During the past three years, Betty gained a new and valuable group of friends: her caregivers who surrounded her with love and devotion. Our thanks to them cannot be adequately expressed. We treasure our memories of Betty and the loving life and time we shared together. We love you. Services will be held privately. Arrangements by EAST LAWN PALMS MORTUARY & CEMETERY.