Sunday, April 5, 2009

In Loving Memory of Bettie Clark


The only "non-halloween" picture I have of
Bettie. She was very adamant about not having
pictures taken - it was so hard to get one!


Bettie taking care of her flowers - she took alot
of pride in our beautiful flower bed.


Bettie as "sponge bob"


We laughed and laughed over this - she didn't
mind posing for these pictures!
Last night I lost a wonderful friend and former
employee to a battle with cancer. Bettie J. Clark
passed away on April 4, 2009 in Snowflake at
Webb's care center. I hired Bettie in the winter of
2001 just out of the blue. I normally never hire
people I don't know, but for some reason I felt
impressed by Bettie. Boy was I on target! She
literally became a member of our family. She
was a faithful employee, never missing work and
always working her hardest, as honest as the day
was long and always looking out for my best
interest as "the boss." She quickly fell in love with
all of the teenagers and especially my five sons.
Tim never actually worked with Bettie, but all
four of the rest of them did. She loved Tim even
though she didn't really know him, but she made
it clear how much she loved the other boys.
Bryan nicknamed her "B to the Eddy" and she
loved that! All of the boys worked with her in the
kitchen cooking and she and Sean would yell
"Let's get ready to rumble" everyday before the
lunch rush. She worked with Kenny both before
and after his mission. She loved "her little Skippy"
as she called him because he was only 12 years
old when she started working at DQ. She was always
a champion of the teenagers and if I would ever
get on them, she would come to their defense
saying "they are just kids." If she liked you, she would
do all of your side work for you during the day
(Sean and Skippy capitalized ALOT on this benefit).
She loved to "hide" the towels. We tend to use too
many towels each day and it would just gripe her to
no end - when they would come in each Monday she
would grab some and take them upstairs to hide them
heaven only knows where! I don't think she could
find them again if she wanted to, in fact I found some
just the other day! We laughed and laughed!
She worked until June 30th of last year and then she
simply could go no longer. All of the pleading in the
world wouldn't get her to the doctor until late Sept when
she finally ended up in the ER - from there she went
directly to the Hospice center where she was given 10 days
to live. You have to know Bettie, she is pretty stubborn! She
went on to live over 6 months longer than they anticipated.
She was a fighter. We loved Bettie and she will be sorely
missed. Knowing her made my life so much richer and I
will remember her always!


4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dear Terri..What a wonderful tribute to Bettie...you two are very fortunate to have found each other and it speaks well of following your instincts.
I know you will all miss her...
Love from Donna

Rustino Scar said...

:( Sad news. She really was great to be around and so kind of caring. I'm sure her absence is felt around the DQ

Adam and Janna Ellsworth said...

I can't believe she's gone. I really miss her. I wish I could come to the funeral, but I have school. I liked the comments you wrote about her, it brings back some fun memories. We love you Bettie!!!

ashley b said...

i was so sad when i heard about beetie passing. i loved working with her. i remember her telling me stories about when she was younger. i'm pretty sure she convinced me that she kissed elvis once...oh i'm sorry, elvis kissed her. every time i came in and she was working she would ask me how my boys were doing and if they weren't with me she would make me promise to bring them the next time so she could see them. she was such a sweet lady and i'll sure miss seeing her around the dq.