Birthe Juul Lauritsen

Birthe Juul (Betty) Lauritsen was a generous, giving person who believed in supporting others. Betty was funny, often gregarious, and forthright in her opinions. Her friends and work colleagues were at the center of her life. Betty honestly believed that there was a good way to live, and followed her convictions.

Born in Store Heddinge, Denmark, Betty moved with her parents, Lily and Knud, and her brother, Kaj, to Canada when she was four years old. Her sister Linda was born a few years later. Growing up in Red Deer, Alberta, Betty graduated from Lindsay Thurber Comprehensive High School, and became the first high school student in Canada to serve on a municipal library board.

Betty then joined the Canadian Armed Forces as a supply technician and was later commissioned as a logistics officer. She began her service in Edmonton, Alberta, followed by UN peacekeeping duty in Egypt. While in the Sinai, Betty moonlighted as a DJ for the base radio station, visited the Holy Land, and was invited by the Swedish contingent to attend an ABBA concert. Betty was then assigned to Canadian Forces Base Lahr, Germany. During her time in Europe, Betty took the time to get to know her native Denmark better, often joined by family from Canada.

After Germany, Betty moved on to become Material Control Officer at Canadian Forces Base Gagetown, New Brunswick, Canada’s largest military base. She was then transferred to Ottawa where she worked in a variety of positions until her retirement in 1999 with 27 years of service.

In 1991, Betty met Ira Lewis, a public servant with the Department of National Defence in Ottawa, whose hometown was Wolfville, Nova Scotia. Betty and Ira married in 1999, and the couple moved to Pacific Grove, California. The Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey had approached Ira and asked him to join their faculty as a logistics professor.

Betty then began her second career as a Police Services Specialist with the City of Seaside, serving 22 years until her retirement in 2022. Betty’s time at Seaside is remembered in the following post from the Seaside Police Department: https://www.instagram.com/p/DNDnR2axt0L/.

Betty and Ira enjoyed a wonderful life on the Monterey Peninsula, and Betty visited her mother in Red Deer often, and travelled with Lily throughout Europe. Betty and Ira also visited Hawaii five times and travelled throughout the U.S. and Canada.

Betty loved cats and dogs, so donations in her memory can be made to SPCA Monterey County or your local humane society.