Betty Louise Lampe

BETTY LOUISE LAMPE Sept. 28 1919- Aug. 16, 2020 Betty was born on Sept. 28, 1919 in Waubay, South Dakota to Margaret Louise and Corwin C.Bush. Her family were among the early settlers to South Dakota. Her mother, Margaret was the first white baby born in that area of the state which still had a high Native American population. As a young girl Betty remembered hiding when the Indians came into town. She attended a one room school house with childhood memories of swimming in Blue Dog Lake, storing the family garden produce in the ‘cool root cellar and playing with farm animals. Betty grew up with the nickname “Firecracker” as she was feisty and often the first to get into trouble. She had 3 brothers, John, Frank, and Dale and two sisters, Vivian and Margaret all of whom have proceeded her. During her lifetime of 100 remarkable years Betty saw the world change. From Model T Fords to flying to the moon and space travel to Mars. The old crank telephone and telegraph communications to the Internet happened during her lifetime. She experienced the Roaring Twenties, silent movies, the Stock Market Crash of 1929 followed by the depression and dust bowl of the 1930’s. In 1938 Betty married her sweetheart, Ellis William Henry Lampe after graduating high school. In the 1940’s during the war years Ellis and Betty had two children, Rosalie Marie and Ronald Ellis. Marilyn Louise, their third child was born as the WWII was ending. After the war there was a boom of housing and household products to include television, plastics and medical advances. Ellis served in the Korean War from 1950-53. The 60’s was filled with political unrest, Vietnam War and the first heart transplant! The 70’s continued with Vietnam protests, Nixon and Watergate, Civil Rights protests and Steve Gates founded Apple computers! The 1980’s recorded Sally Ride becoming the first woman in space, the Titanic was found and DNA was used in a criminal court case for the first time. Betty lived through and saw the 90’s bring a declaration of the end of the Cold War with Russia, O.J. Simpson acquitted of murder and President Bill Clinton impeachment acquitted. In 2001 the World Trade Center was attacked with the rest of the decade witnessing the War on Terror, the Iraq War, FaceBook was founded and Google was launched. In Betty’s last decade she saw the election of President Donald J. Trump, the Paris Terrorist attacks, Pope Benedict XVI abdicates the Papal Throne and the death of Osama Bin Laden. While Betty was never ill due to a world pandemic, she was born in the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918-1919 and passed away in the COVID-19 pandemic of 2019-2020. Together Betty and Ellis had a full life raising four children, two sons, Ronald Ellis and Walter Richard and two daughters, Rosalie Marie and Marilyn Louise. After being a wife, homemaker and mother, Betty in her early 40’s became a Realtor in the East Bay San Francisco area. She was a multi-million dollar producer with numerous Awards and served generations of her clients. Betty also served on the Alameda County Board of Realtors. She loved her work and clients so much she worked until she was 75 years old. Betty and Ellis both learned to play the organ, enjoyed music, traveling , fishing, golf and just being together. Betty and Ellis lived in Rapid City and Sioux Falls, So. Dakota; Oshkosh, Wisconsin; DeMoines, Iowa; Dayton, Ohio; Hayward, CA; Littleton, Colorado; Union City, CA; Custer, So. Dakota; St. George, UT. During the WWII years Betty and their 2 children, Rosalie and Ronald lived in Bunkie, Louisiana, Cornelia, GA and Chicago, IL. before returning back to Rapid City, So. Dakota. Betty is survived by her four children, Rosalie, Ronald, Marilyn and Walter and a generous number of grandchildren and great-grandchildren as listed below. Rosalie and George McChesney gave Betty three grandchildren: Brian, Patricia Hintz and Eryn Bollish. Brian & Debbie McChesney gave their Grandma Betty four Great-grandchildren: Luke, Jake, Reece and Cole . Patricia & Chris Hintz gave their Grandma Betty two Great-grandchildren: Madilynn and Kanen. Eryn & Daniel Bollish gave their Grandma Betty four Great-grandchildren: Jackson, Lucy, Drew and Juliet. Ronald and Peggy Ann Lampe gave Betty two grandchildren: Holly and Nathan. Holly & Ed gave their Grandma Betty two Great-grandchildren: Kyla and Evan Walter Lampe and Peggy Marie gave Betty two grandchildren, Christina and Corey. Christina Lampe Miller gave her Grandma Betty two great grandchildren, Matthew and Colton. Betty finally decided to add one more final move to be closer to family. In 2015 she sold her home in St. George, Utah, and moved to Temecula, California where Marilyn and her husband Randy Horton cared for her until she peacefully passed away on August 16, 2020.