I just lost my best friend, my wife, and love of my life for over 50 years, and mother of our wonderful children. She was an incredible woman-intelligent, caring, hardworking and fun. She was the epitome of the wife of Proverbs 31. She constantly looked for opportunities to be involved, to help and always made everything better--that was the inherent nurse in her. Our family grieves her passing and we will miss her greatly.

We met in an Independent Bible Church, worshiping in a simple wood, historic building just below Michigan Avenue on Chicago’s far south side. Her parents, Bob and Evelyn Mattingly, had recently changed churches and I was a new Christian. For me, it was love at first sight, but for her, I was seen as needing improvement. Eventually, I began showing potential and we married over 44 years ago at Lorimer Memorial Baptist Church in Dolton, Illinois. It has been a marriage full of love, but made very special because of her thoughtful, easy manner and quiet strength.

Her Christian life was simple; study the Word and show love and concern for others, as would our Lord. She chose nursing as a profession, training in the hospital in which she was born. The nursing program was affiliated with Wheaton College. She worked in a Chicago area hospital upon graduation, and later, after we married and moved west, she worked in Berkeley’s Herrick Hospital. When the children were grown, she returned to nursing by working in internal medicine, particularly with Dr. Hugh Johnston.

When our children Mark and Linda came along, in the natural progression of things, she devoted her time to their care, development and education. White shoes became joggers or hiking boots. When we lived in Rome, Italy for a year, she became a teacher, home schooling our pre-teen children, which was probably the most fun school year they ever had. She helped them develop their passion for reading, research and travel. Linda and she, best friends, have continued to enjoy these interests together.

Betty indulged her family, catering to our passions and quirks. She backpacked places where other women would likely rebel, camped throughout Europe when others sought B&B’s, and allowed our house to be full of projects, experiments and collections of every sort. She always sought to foster the sense of exploration, discovery and research. Julie, who joined our family in 1987, has experienced this behavior in Mark.

In our later years we traveled extensively, a keen interest we shared from the first, and found companions in the Johns and Pubols. Betty was the planner, reading extensively in preparation, thoughtfully including events that would please each one of us. On our boat trips, she was the navigator, guiding us though the water with skill and perfect safety.

Betty cared deeply for her parents and was their caregiver for most of her adult life. As a deaconess, she especially enjoyed visiting the sick or elderly, a commitment she continued to make until she died. She was a very remarkable person.