Betty Louise Fleming

August 1, 2022, we lost our family anchor, Mother, Grandmother, Great Grandmother and Aunt. She was a pistol, and at 97, she still had it. Always cheerful and loving to everyone she encountered. She had an endearing sense of humor and was always quick to laugh. This woman was the very definition of sweet loving kindness with a side of quick wit. Always freely giving. Always interested in you and what you were doing. Born in a house on Edith Street (as were her siblings) here in town to Victor and Lizzy Mace. One of five children - Kenny, Keith, Dallas (Buck), and Lois and they all preceded her in death. She was the last surviving member of that family. Oh, how we miss that entire family......

They all played instruments (borrowed from Washington School), and on special evenings they would play and set out popcorn if they had it (on Edith Street), and the neighborhood would converge and enjoy some great family fun for all. Grandad playing the piano and Gramma playing the violin, and the kids played Saxophone, Clarinet, and other instruments they might have. In evenings and when cold the family would gather and sit around the old Edison radio and listen to the old stories and music together. The kids got to grew up in a loving home with an amazing mom and dad.

From working as a grease monkey and gas pump attendant at a local garage as a young girl to running the administrative side of their (Don's) construction business, she was always active in something. Later she helped manage three apartment complexes they owned. She loved bowling, walking, loved her kids and grandkids, horses and chickens, dogs and cats, boating, flying, and on and on. Active in the Walla Walla Yacht Club, they boated with the kids for years. On one trip alone, they went all the way down the Columbia, up the ocean past the west coast of Washington to the Juan de Fuca straights, and up well past the San Juan Islands well into Canada. Don bought an airplane in the mid-60s, and she was very supportive but said she was not going to go with him. Two years later, she was a licensed pilot. Six months after that, she was a fully instrument-rated pilot and was flying solo as a pilot of a fairly sophisticated high-performance airplane with retractable landing gear and full instrumentation of the day. For those interested, it was a J model Beechcraft Bonanza - later on, an S model Bonanza. Her and I (Kelly, her son) once flew alone to Portland, OR. Landing at Portland International to pick up Don. She was an accomplished pilot. Those of us privileged to know her know this story of her life is vastly incomplete. When you make it to 97 and you lived a purposeful active, and loving life, a book could be written.

Preceding her in death, as before mentioned, were her mother and father, Lizzy and Victor, and all three brothers, Dallas, Keith, and Kenny, and Sister, Lois Beeson. Husband Don Fleming - daughter and son-in-law Susie and Tom Baumann; daughter and son-in-law Judi - just passed on September 6, 2022 - and Gene Teal and granddaughter Kim Teal. Surviving her are her son and daughter-in-law Kelly and Mary Fleming, granddaughter Amanda Fleming Kinnard and Son in Law Christopher Kinnard, grandson Jeff Teal and Fiona, grandson Brett Fleming and Helaina, many great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews, and niece and very special person to Bett's, Diana Beeson.

A short graveside service for Betty and Judi will be on September 16, 2022, at 11:00 AM.