Betty Lou Berntson

A celebration of life memorial service will be held 11 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2005, at the Hope Community Cemetery in Hope, Idaho, for Betty Lou Berntson who passed away suddenly at her home in Fircrest, Wash., on Aug. 19, 2005.

Born on March 7, 1926, in Omaha, Neb., to Homer and Leona Coulthard, Betty was their second of four children and their first daughter. In 1934, the Coulthard family migrated to Hope, where Betty grew up loving the beauty and the nature of the lake and the mountains. She attended school in Hope and graduated in May 1944 from Sandpoint High School.

In November 1944, she married "that young man from North Dakota" and began a love story that lasted for 55 years and took her on a journey of discovery, joys, trials and tribulations, and great experiences. The journey took Betty, her beloved Lloyd, and their children from Hope to stops in life at Valley City, N.D., Edgely, N.D., Camas Prairie, Mont., Pullman, Wash., Auburn, Wash. and finally to Fircrest in 1969.

From 1955 to 1967, Betty and her family returned to Hope in the summers where Lloyd worked as an aerial fire observer for the local U.S. Forest Service District. They returned to Hope for summers after their move in 1969 to Tacoma, Wash., where Lloyd taught English at the Tacoma Community College.

At various times, Betty worked as a bookkeeper and as a bank teller but the career she loved, and was a master of arts at, was that of wife, mother, grandmother, and homemaker. No matter where they were, in Hope or elsewhere, Betty was a loved and respected friend and neighbor and she never lost her love of nature and for all creatures large and small. There was always a welcome at the door, an extra plate, another cup of coffee, and kind words as one left her door. She shared herself with family and friends alike and always was the mainstay for her husband and their children in days of sunshine and in days of storm.

Betty was preceded in death by her loving husband Lloyd, her parents, Homer and Leona, and by a sister, Mary Ann Brunetto. She leaves behind in this life the following who continue to love her and honor her memory, a brother, Lavern (and Betty) Coulthard of Lewiston, Idaho; a sister, Marge (and Bruce) Colwell of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho; children, Steve (and Beverly) Berntson of University Place, Wash., Brent (and Sue) Berntson of Auburn, Rebecca (and Brian) Lennstrom of Shoreline, Wash., Robert (and Jody) Berntson of Snohomish, Wash., and Carol Berntson of Tacoma; 16 grandchildren; thee great-grandchildren; numerous nieces and nephews; and friends across the country.

In lieu of flowers, Betty requested donations be made in her name to the Hope Cemetery Committee, Hope, ID 83836.