Barbara Jean Betts

Our beloved mother, Barbara Jean Betts, passed away in her sleep on April 30, 2024, only six weeks short of her 95th birthday. We miss her dearly.

Barbara was born in 1929 in Sharon, Connecticut to Flora Chapman Hall and Sherman Mortimer Hall. Although her parents were living in Brooklyn, New York, at the time, Flora didn't want Brooklyn to show on her daughter’s birth certificate, so she had Barbara in Sharon, Connecticut. 

Flora was a high school language teacher and was proud that she graduated from college (Mount Holyoke) and that she was the first in her family to do so. Sherman was an electrical engineer and his first job was with what is now Consolidated Edison. He worked there his entire career, moving eventually to a financial position and as head of stockholder relations.

Flora loved to vacation by the water. She couldn't swim, but Sherman could and he taught Barbara how to swim and paddle. Sherman, a frustrated merchant marine, bought an old fishing boat. They enjoyed going out on the bay until the boat sank in a storm. Later he bought a kit to build a small sailboat. The whole family spent hours with manual screw drivers until he found an electric one. Barbara was invited to decorate it, so she painted a fish on it. During short trips to the Jersey shore they all learned to ride the waves and sometimes got very sunburned.

Sherman and Flora moved the family to Bloomfield, New Jersey, and then to Glen Ridge. Barbara's sister, Janet Hall Schwind, was born eight years after Barbara, in 1938. 

The family enjoyed going to a private club called Deer Lake just forty-five minutes from their house. There they swam, boated, hiked, and had cookouts. Barbara was a skilled and graceful swimmer. At home, her friends came over to play badminton, croquet, and ping pong. During summer vacations the family toured the Eastern states visiting historic and scenic sites. During WWII they all cultivated a “Victory” vegetable garden.

After Sunday dinner the family enjoyed playing popular songs together. Sherman was on the mandolin, his brother on the banjo, and Flora on the piano. Sometimes Barbara would play piano but more often her little tin flute and always she added her beautiful voice.

Barbara had a pen pal in England. They became close and she went over to visit her. The only way to get to England back then was by ship after six days in transit. Janet remembers seeing off the ship, the Liberté, from New York, and everyone waving vigorously, many with a white handkerchief, until the boat was out of sight. Barbara met a young Frenchman on the ship who she later referred to as a boyfriend. 

When she was in high school and college, Barbara worked at different jobs each summer. One summer she went with friends to the Middlebury Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference to work as a maid. Another summer, she stayed with grandparents in Sharon and worked as a babysitter to a well-known Hollywood family where she dated the son of the general store owner.

Yet another summer job was as a camp counselor for the Girl Scouts. Another time, she worked for Consolidated Edison doing clerical work. Janet recalls that the train ride to New York city was so hot and muggy that her clothes stuck to her body. 

Following the tradition of her mother (and later her sister), Barbara earned her undergrad degree at Mount Holyoke.  Barbara had always been interested in art and she majored in Art History.  In her first job, she worked in a museum with kids' programs in Springfield Mass, where she lived with her grandfather. Barbara went to Syracuse University to pursue a masters in art history. There she met Chuck Cruttenden, a Ph.D. student in Geography. After marrying, she started writing her thesis. Barbara described pushing farther away from her typewriter each week as she became more pregnant with Kim.

After completing their respective degrees, Chuck moved the family to Saint Louis and later to Seattle. Barbara remembered that their landlady in Seattle thought baby Kim made too much noise and they were asked to move out. Chuck landed a job as a geography professor at San Diego State University and moved the family to 6235 Jeff Street, a rental. Barbara taught art history at a community college for one year in San Diego. Carla was born there, five years after Kim. To be closer to work, they purchased a house in the College Area. Chuck failed to obtain tenure and took a job with the County of San Diego as an urban planner. 

Money was tight and Chuck was fighting depression. They rented out the house for a year and moved to San Luis Obispo so Chuck could pursue a degree in architecture. Teaching and studying proved overwhelming. After Chuck's suicide, the family moved back to the San Diego house. Barbara was able to pay off the mortgage with her mother’s help. 

Finding herself a single mother with no income, Barbara trained to be an elementary school teacher. However, the work was not to her liking. She taught art history at a local community college for a year before meeting Jim Betts at a Unitarian single’s group. Jim was a jovial tool and die maker. He had two daughters from a previous marriage who lived in Ohio, but was willing to take on a single mom with 14- and 9-year-old daughters.

Barbara did not work after that. She devoted herself to her painting. Jim built her a 30’x 30’ art studio. She worked almost every day, creating realistic and abstract watercolor and acrylic paintings. She took painting classes and enjoyed meeting with an art critique group. She was a member of the San Diego Watercolor Society. She displayed works regularly in their juried shows and volunteered there as a gallery host and receiver of paintings. 

She enjoyed square dancing with Jim. Her square dance group enlisted Barbara’s artistic talents to make huge cardboard decorations for their parties. She often sewed her own square dance clothing, as well as clothing for her two girls.

To satisfy her intense curiosity in world history, archaeology, and art history, she joined tours to foreign destinations just about every year. Jim was not interested in foreign travel except to Mexico, so she went on her own. She captured lots of images on those trips from which she drew rich inspiration for her paintings.

Jim brought a lot of joy and adventure to Barbara's life. He drove a camper and later an RV. On the drive from San Diego to Santa Cruz one Christmas season, the RV caught fire on the freeway. They were lucky to escape with their lives. With settlement money they bought a new RV. Barbara has criss-crossed the country with Jim, often to visit his extended family in Ohio. At home, she would sometimes ride on the back of his Harley or GoldWing motorcycles.

When Jim passed away unexpectedly in 2020, Barbara took up the challenge of managing her home and finances at age 90. While she was sharp mentally to the end of her life, her body was frail. Knowing she was near death, she waited until two daughters could fly into town, hold her hands and express how much they loved and appreciated her. She is survived by her sister, Janet Schwind, her two daughters, Kim Feerer and Carla Cruttenden, granddaughter Valerie Feerer, Valerie’s husband Chetan Poudel, and great grandson Avi Poudel-Feerer. She is missed by all.