Betty P. Bayer

Betty P. Bayer was a modest woman, quiet and observant in her ways. She was trustworthy and traditional in her approach to her life and in her relationships. She was tough-minded with the kind of “stick to it” attitude that earned the respect of all who knew her. She was also a woman who was meticulous, carefully disciplined, and orderly in virtually everything she undertook. Realistic about life, she was always at the ready, prepared to take on responsibility.

Betty was born on May 1, 1939 in Washington DC. She was raised by her mother Edith. Betty was raised in Stillwater, Minnesota. She was brought up to be self-confident and dependable. These were traits that would serve her well throughout her life.

Growing up in her household was a bit different than most homes. There were good times to be had, but just as often there was a fair share of challenges as well. However, Betty was able to work through the usual family problems when they appeared, and she was the one person in the family who seemed able to keep the stress at bay. Betty was raised with one sibling. She had one half brother, Steve. Betty was constantly involved in activities with her brothers. Betty and her sibling may have had the typical rivalries while growing up but Betty was always consistently loyal to her family.

As a young child, Betty was never someone who needed to be the center of attention. She wasn’t pushy and never forced her way into games or other activities. Betty developed a variety of interests, though, and the things she enjoyed doing she did well. She was always curious about the world around her and was often eager to explore it. She was a girl scout. In her spare time she liked art. Betty's memorable achievements included being an A student. However, what Betty enjoyed most was simply playing and spending time with her many friends.

While her teachers and even her friends generally thought of Betty as being a serious person, she managed to have a pretty good time in high school as she made that critical transition from adolescence to adulthood. She graduated from Van Nuys High School in 1955. She enjoyed some courses more than others, having favorite classes and teachers. Her favorite class in high school was literature. Betty was a very logical person who enjoyed learning about factual information. Using her exceptional memory, she was able to learn much through observation. Betty always seemed to have a command of the facts and was able to make it seem as though she could easily master any problem that might be presented to her.

College life brought with it a new set of challenges, but Betty handled them well. Being a critical thinker who always remained intellectually independent, Betty was able to focus on the task at hand in order to complete her class work. She seemed to thrive on college reading assignments, something that often bogged down her classmates. Betty was able to read the material and retain the information in a way that impressed her fellow classmates. The ability to efficiently complete the task at hand was a skill that served Betty well during her college experience. She was accepted into UCLA but was not able to attend due to transportation. She was College student of the Month.

Always considered to be a solid friend, Betty was fortunate to have numerous acquaintances and several very close friends during her life. Since she disliked making generalizations about people and preferred to draw her own conclusions based on direct observation, Betty was able to see beneath the surface of relationships and became a true friend to those who knew her. She was committed to her friends and valued the trust she placed in them. It was not uncommon for Betty to go beyond the call of duty for others, and friends frequently sought her out for advice because she had a knack for coming up with practical solutions to any type of dilemma. While growing up, some of her best friends were Mary Palmer, Jo Ann and Donna. Later in life, she became friends with Barbara, Renie, Alica, Cindy, Maria and Charlene.

Betty and Paul married on September 12, 1959. Compassionate and devoted to Paul, Betty held endearing, traditional values about marriage and family life. She took the responsibility of marriage to heart, giving it her total commitment. She was a source of strength to Paul and using her gifts at nurturing one-on-one relationships, she worked hard to make her new family happy.

Betty brought the same traditional values in her marriage to bear on how she raised her children. She was a good parent to them, always firm yet fair in her dealings. She would always listen carefully and think things through before she acted, even when it was an adverse situation. Betty was also a walking schedule, always seeming to know what everyone in the family needed to do, where they needed to be and when they needed to be there. Betty was blessed with two children, Debora and Michael. They were also blessed with seven grandchildren, Nicholas, Macie, Rich, Nolan, Madison, Miranda and Nathan.

Betty greatly enjoyed what she did for a living. She was a hard worker who expected the same in return from her co-workers. She was skilled at working effectively in small groups and in one-on-one situations as well as handling solo assignments efficiently. Betty enjoyed dealing with concrete ideas and could penetrate any amount of fuzzy information to reach the essential facts. Always able to attend to the task at hand, Betty was excellent at meeting deadlines. She was an efficient worker, one who paid careful attention to detail, allowing sufficient time to complete one task before moving on to the next. Her primary occupation was retail clerk. She was employed for 25 years at Alpha Beta Grocery Store. Betty worked hard to be a team player, doing what was necessary in order to get the job done.

Betty liked to experience things first-hand as well as learn about them. This trait carried over into her hobbies, where she was very methodical in how she organized her activities and categorized things. Since she enjoyed her private time, Betty always tried to allocate a specific time for working on her hobbies. Her favorite pursuits were sewing, gourmet cooking and crafts. Betty was content to enjoy her hobbies alone but was also willing to share her interests with others.

Betty was a woman who was dedicated and devoted to her faith. She was a member St. John Vianney Catholic Church for 45 years. She was a sympathetic woman who valued her beliefs and was willing to work tirelessly for them.

Betty enjoyed traveling and taking vacations. Since she was an early starter and had a knack for planning everything, traveling with Betty appeared effortless. She enjoyed researching all of her examined options and applying cost-effective planning techniques. Plus, no matter where she traveled, Betty always had a back up plan at the ready, just in case. Favorite vacations included family vacations on Balboa Island, later in life her travel abroad with her husband and friends.

Betty was a lover of animals and cherished her pets. One of Betty’s favorites was Boo, a Wirer-hair Terrier. They were best friends for 17 years.

When Betty’s retirement finally arrived in 1995, she was well prepared. She always trusted and placed value in what was logical and in the things she knew, so she was very confident in planning her retirement. She had begun the process early and had her retirement all laid out well in advance. In retirement, she found new pleasure in spending time with her family, traveling and womans card group. Even in retirement, Betty continued to stay in touch with her old friends while making plenty of new acquaintances. She was active in her new community and felt fulfilled.

Betty P. Bayer passed away on February 29, 2012 at Whittier Presbyterian Hospital. She is survived by her husband Paul, daughter Debora and her husband Rich, son Michael and his wife Marlynn, her grandchildren Nicholas, Macie, Richie, Nolan, Madison, Miranda and Nathan. Services were held at Custer Christiansen Chapel.

Commitment is a key word that can be used to describe the life of Betty P. Bayer. She was committed to living the life of a good woman who was both practical and trustworthy. She was committed to the traditional values that she upheld her entire life. She committed herself to being a hard worker who expected the same effort in return from those around her. Most of all, she was committed to those she knew and loved.