Betty Jane Neighbours

She was born May 19, 1924, in Mentor, Ohio, daughter of Lola Ella Hurt and Orlo Lynn Carlton. Betty Jane lived in Mentor until she went away to college at Case Western Reserve University in the big city of Cleveland. There she met and married John R. Neighbours, and the babies started coming after that. She was unable to complete her college degree but she always retained her joy and love of reading books, which she passed on to her family. We were always amazed at the depth and breadth of her vocabulary since she could always find the exact right word for any situation.

The young Neighbours family moved around - to New York, back to Ohio, to Michigan, and finally landed in California in 1959. BJ completely embraced being a resident of Monterey, learned the history of the town, knew all about Father Serra and Commodore Sloat, and took the kids on walking trips of the adobes, giving lectures about the inhabitants to any who would listen. She participated as a volunteer, giving freely of her time and advice to many organizations, including the early years of the Monterey Jazz Festival where she organized the volunteer ushers. Her heart was large, and took in many people; she volunteered space for a family she didn’t know but whose house had burned down, taking them home and feeding and caring for them for several days with the help of her own family who learned compassion from her.

After a divorce, she lived at the house on Via Ventura and loved to have people come over: her friends, friends of the kids at home, and kids away from home with their friends. There was a salon-like quality to the discussions and her first words when you walked in were always “Tell me about….” whatever activity you had been pursuing. She was our first and greatest supporter.

BJ worked as administrative assistant at the Monterey United Methodist Church for some time, and knew all the members by first name. She also spent numerous years coordinating enrichment programs for children of all ages through the Lyceum of the Monterey Peninsula, a job that engendered a lot of printed paper to sort, file, and mail, and innumerable people to meet and greet. BJ worked briefly for the Carmel Unified School District, and then began working for the Girl Scouts in the little adobe by Lake El Estero, retaining her position with them until her retirement. Her strength was dealing with people and her position as District Director was a very good fit. After retirement, BJ couldn’t sit still, and worked for Struve Insurance Agency for several years. She also became an avid quilter, a member of the Monterey Peninsula Quilt Guild, and was very skilled at hand-quilting; her sense of color and fabric arrangement in the pieces she produced was pleasantly surprising.

In her later years, BJ liked to stay home and lived with her daughter Sarah and Sarah’s husband David Duncan at the house on Via Ventura. She still wanted to hear all one’s activities and travels, and loved to look at pictures of the places you’d been. One of her greatest pleasures was a trip to McDonald’s for a small hamburger, then on to consume the food while checking out activities on “her bay” from the parking lot above San Carlos Beach, near the Coast Guard pier. She loved to finish her outings with a chauffeured drive all around the shore from the pier to Asilomar. For her 80th birthday, friends from all phases of her life came for a celebratory luncheon and she was so pleased. Her comment was, “These are all MY friends.”

BJ was pre-deceased by two sons, John Robert Neighbours, Jr., and William Earl Neighbours. She is survived by her daughter Mary Neighbours and husband Tom Vogelmann of Vermont; son David Neighbours and wife Catherine Walker of Crestline, CA; daughter in-law Renee Neighbours of Dana Point, CA; daughter Sarah Duncan and husband David Duncan who cared for her for many years at the home on Via Ventura; and her sister-in-law Jane Carlton of Painesville, Ohio and nieces and nephews in Ohio. Betty Jane had many grandchildren – Natalie Lopez and family of Seaside; Janel Neighbours of Fullerton, CA; Vanessa Ledesma and family of Avondale, AZ; Kaitlin Neighbours of Pullman, WA; Scott Vogelmann of Madison, WI; Alice Hall and family of Cheyenne, WY, Robert Valiente-Neighbours and wife Jimiliz of Santa Cruz, CA; and Joshua Duncan of Santa Clarita, CA – as well as five great grandchildren.

The family would like to thank Letitia Perez for her constant care of BJ and dependability for so many years. A memorial service is planned for Sunday, May 25, 2014, at which there will be six great grandchildren. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation in BJ’s name to the Girl Scouts (Girl Scouts of California Central Coast, 10550 Merritt St., Castroville, CA 95012) or to the non-profit of your choice. To leave condolences for her family, please visit her website at www.thepaulmortuary.com.

Arrangements under the direction of The Paul Mortuary, Pacific Grove, CA.