Betty Jean Gallant

She was raised and educated at Gooseprairie, WA, where she attended 1st thru 8th grade in the Gooseprairie school. She graduated from Naches High School in 1943.

As a young woman living at Gooseprairie she worked for Kitty Nelson, cleaning cabins, waiting on tables and washing dishes. She also wrangled horses during the summer for the Boy Scouts and helped in the kitchen at Camp Fife.

On occasion, filling in for her Dad, she would carry the mail from American River to the Gooseprairie Post Office, sometimes by car and during the winter she would ski the 18-mile round trip.

During the summer of 1943, she worked as a lookout guard spending two weeks at Raven’s Roost then switching to Miners Ridge Lookout with her horse Snakebite for the remainder of the summer. She hauled supplies to her brothers who were lookout guards on Goat Peak and Bald Mountain.

She completed a course of pre-nursing at CWU in the fall of 1943, following up with training at Swedish Hospital in Seattle. While at Swedish she joined the Cadet Nursing Corp for WWII.

She met Howard Gallant through letters while he was a Marine stationed in the South Pacific. His younger brother had enlisted, went to the South Pacific and found his brother and insisted he write to her. They married in February 1946, making their home in Everett, WA.

Later that same year, their first daughter Janet was born. They left city life and bought the Bumping Lake Boat Landing in 1947. They operated the boat landing until 1950 when the Game Department poisoned the fish putting them out of business.

Their second daughter Karen was born in 1950, while they were living at Gooseprairie. They later moved to the Tieton Headgates, then Yakima, Tieton Dam and back to Yakima. But mother’s heart has always been at Gooseprairie, she always considered it her home. She was an avid historian of “all things Gooseprairie” and was one of the last of the early Gooseprairie pioneers.

Mom worked for the U. S. Forest Service for 20 years, three of those years as a temporary cook for the fire crews. She enjoyed both the inside and outside duties, she preferred to be in the great outdoors enjoying horseback riding, hiking and gardening. She very much enjoyed her co-workers and has remained friends with many since her retirement.

Mom was an adventurer who travelled extensively. She visited several countries in Europe including Norway where her Grandmother Root was born. She cruised through the Panama Canal. She enjoyed seeing wild animals in Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Alaska and the Polar bears at Hudson’s Bay. One of the joys of her life was travelling, if a wheel turned she was packed and ready to go.

Betty was preceded in death by Howard “Lucky” Gallant husband for 52 years; and second husband, James “Jim” Johncox, Jr.; Parents Ira and Bessie Peters Ford; brothers Robert “Bob” Ford and Charles “Pat” Ford. And grand-daughter Daralyn Porter.

She is survived by daughters Janet Gallant and Karen Rayner. Grand-daughters Barbara (Bill) Schorzman and Stefanie Barth. Great grandsons Brady and Skyler Metherd; and Couper and Chase Schorzman; Great-great grandson Bentley Metherd. Step-grandchildren Brian Rayner and Tammy Rayner, step-great grandsons, Benjamin and Kaleb Rayner. Six stepchildren, Helen (Bill) Cook, Stephen (Charlene) Johncox, Jan (Haskell) Gray, Jim (Patricia) Johncox, Trisha (Jeff) Battrick, and Tracy (Mitch) Stein. 15 step grandchildren and 12 Step Great-grandchildren and many nieces and nephews.

Contributions can be made to the Washington State Chapter Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, 520 Pike St. #1075, Seattle, WA 98101

A Memorial Service will be held at

1:00 PM on March 21, 2020

Langevin El Paraiso Funeral Home

1010 West Yakima Avenue

Yakima, WA 98902