Bette Charlene Henson

Bette (Palmer) Henson peacefully went to be with her Heavenly family on Saturday, August 8, 2015 after a long battle with several health issues. She leaves behind her husband, grandson, brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, cousins, extended family members, and many friends who will all miss her greatly.

Bette was born in Tacoma on January 29, 1948 to Leonard and Fern Palmer. She grew up in Tacoma where she graduated from Franklin Pierce High School. She worked for 30 years as a civilian at Fort Lewis, most of those years in the Finance and Accounting Office. After her retirement from Civil Service, she worked for the Western Institutional Review Board in Olympia for 12 years. She retired from WIRB in 2011 partly because she had, frankly, worked long enough, but mostly to babysit her grandson Kaeden.

Bette married Vernon Henson on October 29, 1974. They lived in Germany for one year while Vern was on active duty for the US Army. They settled back in Tacoma in 1975, then moved to the Olympia area in 1978. Bette is preceded in death by her children; twin daughters Diana and Deborah, son Christopher, daughter Pamela, and sons Patrick and Michael, her parents, and her sister Della.

A celebration of Bette's life will be held on Friday, August 14th at Mills & Mills Funeral Home, 5725 Littlerock Road SW, Tumwater.

There will be a viewing at 12:00pm, with funeral services beginning at 1:00pm. We will then have a short graveside service followed by a reception at the funeral home.

The family would like to express our deepest gratitude to the doctors, nurses and staff of the St Peter Hospital Intensive Care Unit. We were all treated with respect and compassion, but most important is the compassion and respect they showed for Bette. They did all they could to keep her comfortable throughout her stay.