Betty Young, 91

Betty Young of Bigfork passed away Friday, April 8, 2011, at the Immanuel Lutheran Nursing Home in Kalispell. 

She was born on Dec. 20, 1919. in Canton, Ohio, the daughter of Walter and Cordelia (McKammon) Reed.

Betty was one of 11 children growing up on a farm in rural Ohio and struggled through the Great Depression as a teenager. Betty joined the war effort in the early ‘40s, working at the converted Hoover vacuum factory in Canton, making anti-aircraft shells.

Shortly thereafter, she married her first husband, Lester Ransom and they had a son, James. That didn't work out as well as she had hoped and they divorced. 

In 1949, she married John Leonard Young Sr., of Hollywood, Fla. Later, they moved to Detroit and had two sons, John and Bob. Soon thereafter, Betty strongly encouraged home ownership outside “the city,” to raise the three boys. 

After moving to Farmington, Mich., Betty organized a committee to study the feasibility of building an Olympic-sized swimming pool complex. While overcoming numerous obstacles, Betty successfully raised the funding as treasurer, saw the project through to completion and the Farmington Glen Aquatic Club became a reality. Her contributions are commemorated on a bronze plaque at the front entrance of the clubhouse. Her children and thousands more over the past 45 years have enjoyed this pool, learning to swim, dive and compete. The FGAC teams have become a force to be reckoned with at swim meets across the region as a result of the determination of this great woman. 

In addition to being a devoted wife and mother, Betty worked for many years at Pixieland, a children's clothing store in Farmington, becoming store manager and executive buyer, making trips to New York and elsewhere. In later years, she sold real estate in the Atlanta area and worked for the Lake Tahoe Visitor Center.

In 1997, Betty moved to Bigfork to be closer to her family. She loved her three grandchildren, Carly, Amy and Jordan, and they became her world after the passing of her husband, John, in 1985.

She was preceded in death by her parents; all of her brothers and sisters; her husband, John; and her son, James.

“Betty is now rejoicing in heaven surrounded by her loving family and dear friends, which gives all of us great comfort.”

Betty is survived by her sons, John Young of Key West, Fla., and Bob Young and wife, Christi, of Bigfork; and three grandchildren, Carly, Amy and Jordan Young. 

There will be a graveside memorial service for our wonderful, loving mother at a date still to be determined.