Betty Jean Harmon-Westerfeld

Our beloved mother, Betty Jean Harmon-Westerfeld was born February 16, 1937 in Casa Grande, Arizona and peacefully slipped into the arms of her Lord and Savior on February 18, 2025 in Bakersfield, California.

Betty was born en route to California while her parents traveled from Oklahoma during the dust bowl migration and had stopped for work in Casa Grande. Shortly after Betty’s birth, they moved and settled in Arvin. Betty worked sorting potatoes and picking peaches and oranges during her teen years. It was at Arvin High School where this feisty, young girl caught the eye of LeRoy Harmon. Only one week after graduation, she and LeRoy were married and began their life together in Bakersfield, California. They had their first child, Kristen who arrived in 1956 followed by Terri Kim in 1958. The family moved to the San Fernando Valley for four years where Betty worked as a bank teller, even being robbed at gunpoint not once, but twice! They returned to Bakersfield where third child, Kevin was born in 1968. It was shortly after this that Betty recommitted her life to Jesus Christ.

Betty was a do-er; she loved to work and keep busy. A devoted wife and an immaculate homemaker, she loved to sew, clean, decorate and craft. She sewed many of her own clothes as well as her daughters until jeans became popular and they put a stop to it! She even took up knitting and became quite proficient in making sweaters for all the family. When LeRoy’s family moved to southern Oregon, that became their annual vacation spot and Betty mastered the art of “glamping” long before it was popular and learned how to pan for gold on the Umpqua River. Whatever she put her hand to, she was determined to master it.

She began her working career as a bank teller and quickly moved to becoming a school secretary. However, her real passion in work was discovered when the family moved to Tehachapi in 1971 where she managed an escrow office for Century Title. She continued her career with CT when they moved back to Bakersfield in 1980.

Following LeRoy’s untimely death, Betty was devastated and found herself as a young widow at age 52, after 34 years of marriage. As a part of her grief therapy, she decided to take up golf and discovered she not only loved it, but was good at it! She enjoyed playing in leagues and spending time on teams with other women. Having been set up on a “golf date,” she met and married Bill Westerfeld in 1991. They enjoyed retirement together taking motorcycle trips, golfing, and hosting many family get-togethers with lots of candy meat and Bill’s famous beans. They were married 25 years before Bill passed in 2017. Her latter years were spent making friends and enjoying community life at Rosewood.

Betty was preceded in death by her parents John and Eva Johnson, her first husband Leroy E. Harmon, and second husband, Bill Westerfeld. Betty is survived by her three loving children, Kristen McLaughlin & husband Phil, Terri Downs & husband Steve, Kevin Harmon & wife Karin, six grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren with the fifth baby on the way, her two sisters, Norma (Frank) Silva and Patricia (Fred) Heerd, her sister-in-law, Kathleen (Carl) Giles, and numerous nieces and nephews. She is also survived by her late husband’s children, David Westerfeld & wife Sue, Tammy Reynolds & husband Bill, eight grandchildren and fourteen great-grandchildren. She was greatly loved and will be missed by all.

A service to celebrate her life will be held on Friday, April 4, 2025 at 11:00 am at RiverLakes Community Church, 4301 Calloway Drive. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Betty’s memory to Hoffman Hospice & Palliative Care, 4325 Buena Vista Road, Bakersfield.