Betty L. Davis, 81, a longtime resident of Diamond, passed away July 31.

Betty was born July 16, 1938, in Dillon, Mont., to Marselle and Mae Lake, joining sister, Margaret (Toots), and brother, Tom. In August 1942, the family left Dillon and moved to Harney County where Marselle had a job at the refuge. John Scharff would let Betty, Toots, and Tom use his .22 to shoot gophers in the yard at the headquarters. Betty was a good shot. She went to grade school in Sod House, and then high school in Crane. After graduating from high school, she went to Montana to stay with her aunt, Pheobe. They had lots and lots of fun, so much fun that her dad had to go get her and bring her home before they caused too much trouble. Almost every Sunday morning, Betty was talking on the phone to Pheobe. After she got back from Montana, Betty went to work at the Harney County Hospital for a while. She met Buck on a blind date in March of 1959, and they were married Aug. 8, 1959, in the living room of Buck’s brother and sister-in-law, Gale and Belva. Then along came the reason for her grey hair — her daughter, Rita, followed by her son, Don. But Buck did his fair share of the grey hair contributions. He always knew when she had mopped, because here he would come. One time, she got mad at him and sewed the fly on his long johns shut. She always chuckled when that story would come up.

They moved to Diamond in 1971, and that was home. They lived at Leon and Lucille Thompson’s, where Betty ran the old rope pull dump rake in the refuge for Leon. In 1974, they moved to Otley Brothers, where Betty cooked every summer for the hay crew and enjoyed all the visiting.

In 1979, Betty gained another kid, Bill, and in 1981, she became granny to Kristie. They had a lot of fun together and made a lot of memories.

Betty loved yard work, but when she found a worm in the flower bed, the work stopped, and she was off fishing. She always had her pole in one hand and a cigarette in the other, with a glass of iced tea on the bank. She walked thousands of miles behind a lawn mower. She always had a five-gallon bucket to put weeds from the flower bed in. When she got older, the bucket was used to help her get up, and the weeds just got thrown over the fence. Betty crocheted hundreds of doilies and afghans, and those were family Christmas presents and many others’ wedding, baby, or graduation presents. At times, there was a lot of curly thread from either a mistake or her dog, Grundy, catching her foot in it and pulling a bunch of Betty’s work out.

A lot of fun was had by Betty, Buck, and their friends at the Diamond dances and pinochle parties. Betty also loved to play the piano, and could play by ear. After the dances were over, she would just play the piano, and they would keep partying. She was a person of old-fashioned values and held to them. She was never shy on giving her opinion. She got that from her aunt, Pheobe.

Betty is survived by her son, Don; daughter, Rita, and husband, Bill; granddaughter, Kristie, and husband, Jeff; sister, Margaret, and husband, Red; numerous nieces and nephews; and many close friends.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Buck; parents, Marselle and Mae; brother, Tom; and numerous aunts and uncles.

Contributions in Betty’s memory may be made to the Community Flag Fund, because she always said that, “If that flag quit flying, the country was in serious trouble.” Contributions may also be made to Harney County Home Health and Hospice.