Betty Carl died peacefully in her sleep on November 24, 2025, at the age of 96. She left 2 sons, 4 grandkids, 8 great grandkids and many family and friends.

Her life started as Betty June Hamer a week after the 1929 Wall Street crash. She was born in Nebraska, but she was raised in Longview, Washington where her dad found work in a sawmill. She was the only girl out of 5 kids so, as she remembered wryly, she did housework while her brothers ran wild. In the summers the family would pile into the truck and drive to Nebraska to see family. There were no freeways or hotels. It was the Depression with potholed roads and camping.

As a teenager she worked as a teller in a Longview bank and, later, after she married Allen Carl and he enrolled at UW on the GI bill, in a Seattle bank.

In the ’50s and ’60s she was a real life version of June Cleaver in Longview with 2 boys. For years she was in a bowling league.

When her boys became more independent, she became Allen’s office manager. She and Allen travelled the world, golfed at the Longview Country Club, and had a second home in Indian Wells as they had more time and money. They moved to Richland in the ’90s and built a home. They joined the Meadow Springs Country Club and made new friends.

Betty was shattered in 2000 when Allen died but she pulled herself together and became the matriarch of her family. She was a lot better at nurturing than Allen had been. Her family grew closer and thrived.

She loved animals and children, especially her own. She enjoyed giving, the Arts Center was her favorite charity. She enjoyed plays, lectures, and Mid Columbia Symphony concerts. Those who knew her may remember that, like a lot of Depression era girls, she liked bling.

She lost cognition in her last few years and her family placed her on Hospice Care. Quality of life being the goal, there was no more stressing over how to extend her life. She may have lived longer and definitely lived better as a result.

In lieu of flowers, Betty’s family would be honored by contributions in her name to the Arts Center Task Force.

All are welcome to share a memory of Betty and sign the online guestbook below.