Betty Isabell Henson Masket passed away from natural causes on July 26, 2021 in her home in Chevy Chase, MD at the grand old age of 98. She promised all of us she would make it to 100 and she almost made it.
She was born July 18th, 1923 to Philip Candler Henson and Empress Eugenia (Lombard) Henson in the small town of Cullowhee, North Carolina surrounded by the Great Smoky Mountains Range. She was the youngest of four children, Louise Eugenia, Philip Alvin, and Birdie Kathleen. She got into trouble often. One day she thought it would be a great idea to try out the wonderful smelling plug tobacco sold at her father’s general store. She stole a little piece from a plug on display and tucked it into her jaw just like the men who bought her father’s tobacco. She decided to go fishing and almost fell in the river because the nicotine made her so dizzy. She got a “leg switching” from her father because she had ruined the whole plug by cutting off that tiny little piece. She began her college education at what was then called Western Carolina Teacher’s College, now Western Carolina University. As War World II raged, on a whim, she applied for and was accepted as a cadet with Currtis-Wright Corporation’s engineering training and employment program. She had never been away from home but bravely packed herself up and moved to Lafayette, Indiana to study aerodynamics and engineering at Purdue University. After she graduated from the program she moved to Columbus, Ohio to work for Currtis-Wright in various capacities, most notably as a line inspector of the construction of the navy dive bomber SB2C Helldiver. After the war ended and the cadet program was disbanded, Betty went home to North Carolina and finished her college education, graduating with a degree in Chemistry and Math. She ultimately completed her education at University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. There she met her husband, Albert Victor Hugo Masket, who taught graduate physics at UNC. They married in 1950 and their children, Isabel and Meta, were born in 1952 and 1954, respectively. At some point during this period of her life, Betty found the time to get her Master’s Degree in Analytical Chemistry. In the latter part of the 1950’s, Vic and Betty packed up and moved to La Jolla, CA for Victor’s new job in the private sector. Betty’s title during their time in La Jolla was “housewife” but she loved holding down the fort for the family, especially the requisite garden which she expanded to include numerous fruit trees. To save time watering, she devised a complicated aqueduct system with water fed to the trees by a combination of moats and reservoirs. She single handedly pulled out and then replanted the ice plant that covered the entire frontage of the property.
In 1964, the family moved to the suburbs of Washington, DC where Victor had taken a job at the Naval Research Lab. They ultimately settled in at the house in Chevy Chase where Betty lived out her life. Unfortunately, not too long after the move to Chevy Chase, Victor fell ill with an aggressive form of cancer and passed away in December of 1966. Betty had to keep the house afloat during his illness and took a job as a chemist with the Heart and Lung Branch of the National Institutes of Health. She rose through the ranks and became the head chemist of the Cholesterol Lab. She then transferred to another department where she took on the position of Scientific Review Administrator until her retirement at 70 years of age.
In addition to the difficult task of raising two children as a single mother, there were lots more positive things Betty had to offer to her family. Many happy days were spent vacationing in Whiteside Cove near Highlands, NC surrounded by the much loved relatives on the Henson and Lombard sides of the family. We will continue to enjoy many more adventures and fun activities in this idyllic setting. As soon as it is possible, a celebration of life will be held in the Cove to honor her memory and the legacy of the cabin. In 1969, she surprised her daughters by purchasing a mobile home on the island of Chincoteague, VA which turned out to be a most amazing little slice of beach life heaven. Her favorite thing, FOOD, was always served up with abundance at the beach. In 1996, she then again surprised her daughters by buying a little piece of land and putting a brand new and bigger trailer on it for family and friends to enjoy in perpetuity. She was full of surprises!!
Her hobbies included gardening, collecting antique clocks and some not so antique, collecting Betty Boop kitsch, enjoyed listening to Classical music thanks to her husband who was a very good classical pianist, fishing in her early and even late years, and garage sale “dumpster diving” She was a die-hard General Hospital fan. Most everyone knew not to call her when General Hospital was on. She absolutely loved talking on the phone, and later in life she would talk to the phone scammers who would try to get her to give them all of her money. Thankfully, she was crafty enough to talk their ear off but never gave them her credit card number or her social security number (well, just once—that was fun to unravel).
Betty was preceded in death by her husband Victor and her daughter Meta (Mera Masket) Fisher (Mark), her parents, her siblings Louise, Philip Alvin, and Birdie Kathleen, Uncle Bud (Eric) and Aunt Dony (Dona) Lombard, her dear cousin Wilma Lombard, cousin Everette Lombard (Frances), and cousin Doc aka Randy Lombard, cousin Jack Lombard (he had pet rattlesnakes!), her niece Peggy Louise Friend and nephew Philip Friend and many other uncles and aunts and cousins on both sides of the family. It would be very difficult and lengthy to list the many relatives and friends who didn’t have her longevity genes. She always said that the disadvantage to living such a long life was to lose so many loved ones but she also very much loved life and wanted to stay alive as long as possible.
Betty is survived by her daughter Nicole (Isabel Masket) Novak (Jeffrey), her loving grandchildren Jennifer (Novak) Codington, Holly and Taylor Novak, great grandchildren Avery, Jayden, and Presley Codington, her niece and nephew Mary Lou (Henson) Hamill (Jess) and Philip Henson (Grace), her nieces Ellen Wolf-Slater (Gary) and Susan Wolf, Frances (Friend) Ford and Betty Kathleen (Friend) Smith, her grandnephew Jay Smith, cousins Libby Lombard (she’s 100!!! Congratulations, Libby), Freda (Lombard) McCall (Richard), Sandy (Lombard) Bryson (Jim), Jamie Bryson, Beth Lombard, Ernie Lombard, Ed Henson (Judy) and many other relatives and friends too numerous to mention but please know that she loved each and every one of you with all her heart. Special thanks go to her wonderful neighbors Gregg and Loree Trilling, her dear friends Bonnie French, Barbara Thackray and many other kind folks who helped her through her later years and especially for keeping her safe during Covid. Finally, she had a very special friendship with Jim Bryson. He needs to be honored for his importance in Betty’s life.
Donations in her honor may be made to the Audubon Naturalist Society -- website is anshome.org
A memorial service for immediate family and friends will be held August 18th at 1PM at Joseph Gawler’s Sons, 5130 Wisconsin Ave, Washington DC. The service will also be available for virtual attendance.
Smithsonian Article about Betty:
https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/meet-curtiss-wright-aeronautical-engineering-cadettes
Video Interview of Betty from the National WWII Museum:
SHARE OBITUARY
v.1.8.18