Betty Salas

Betty Salas, born Clara Rose McNeill in Prescott, Az. and rechristened Elizabeth Rose McNeill by the sisters of St. Joseph's Academy in Prescott after they took her in when she was 4 to raise her, died peacefully at home on Feb. 16, 2022, a little over a month shy of her 87th birthday. Betty leaves behind a loving and devoted husband, Frank Salas, seven children (she is pre-deceased by her first child, Jeannine Mattina, who died Sept. 1, 2021), 19 grandchildren, 10 great grandchildren, and countless others who loved her deeply for her amazing qualities of kindness, selflessness, and her gentle touch as a mother, wife, grandmother, great-grandmother, and friend. Betty's deep and lifelong faith in God was nurtured during her youth at St. Joseph's Academy. She attended Mount St. Mary's University, an all-women’s liberal arts college in Los Angeles, and considered becoming a nun or a nurse until she decided on starting a family with Wayne Edward Hardesty shortly after they married on April 27, 1957. Betty will live in our hearts forever as an exemplar of pure and genuine love.