Betty Batson

Betty Ann Batson, nee Beitzel, 80, passed away at home on June 8, 2013 surrounded by her loving family. She is survived by her devoted husband, John; her beloved children, Martha (Steve), David (Laura), and Mary (Bill); her cherished grandchildren, Jack, Elizabeth and Tommy Anderson, Ella and Fred Batson, Alice, Zach and Sally Herman; and her brother, Robert. Betty was born in St. Louis, MO to Adele and Raymond Beitzel on April 6, 1933, a day, she often recalled, when prohibition eased and beer barrels rolled down the city streets. The family subsequently moved to Hinsdale, IL, where they lived throughout her childhood and young adult years. She graduated from Miami University of Ohio in 1955, where she was active in college life and served as president of the Miami chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma. After college, she was a first grade teacher at the Rocky River School in Cleveland, OH and the Greeley School in Winnetka, IL. She met her husband, John, on the pier of the Elizabeth Waters dormitory at the University of Wisconsin, while she was taking continuing education summer classes and he was completing his medical internship. They were married in Hinsdale on June 13th, 1959 and spent a brief period in Anchorage, AK, where John served at the Elmendorf Air Force Base hospital and their daughter, Martha, was born. Following a dusty, two-week drive down the unpaved, two-lane Al-Can Highway, they returned to Madison in 1961, a city that they have loved and called home ever since.
Betty was a committed life-long volunteer and activist, devoting herself to the community in a variety of ways. While her children were in school, she worked with the League of Women Voters and volunteered in the public schools, including serving on neighborhood and curriculum committees and as campaign chair for multiple, successful school board candidates. She was instrumental in the founding of Hospice in Madison. Betty served as a member, and then as the second president, of the original board of directors of Dane County Hospice (today known as Agrace Hospice), when the organization was just beginning to provide services and was located in a local church basement. In those years, before medicare covered hospice, Betty provided strategic leadership when it was a struggle to provide funding for workers. She continued her service for the Wisconsin State Hospice organization as a legislative liaison, and succeeded in developing and overseeing passage into law of licensing and bioethical standards that became the basis for hospices statewide. She took a brief respite from volunteer work when she was asked to join Governor Anthony Earl's staff as director of state appointments, a job she shared with her dear friend, Gloria Berman. She continued her volunteer service with six years on the board of directors for the Mann Educational Opportunity Fund, a group that works to help at-risk youth succeed in the public school system. In her later years she worked as a volunteer in the labor and delivery area at Meriter Hospital. Over the years, Betty always quietly looked for ways to help those around her, delivering meals-on-wheels, donating blood and assisting neighbors in need. In 2005, she was honored for her life of volunteer work with a Senior Service Award presented by the Rotary Club of Madison.
Betty found great joy in her family. Her love for them was deep and steady; throughout the years, she was "a rock" who could be counted on to listen and provide wise counsel in any situation. She cherished each of her grandchildren and delighted in watching them grow; they warmed her heart and made her smile until her final days. Her happiest moments were when the family was together, whether on Christmas morning, a sunny Sanibel beach, or a warm summer evening on the deck of their home overlooking Lake Mendota. She also dearly loved her many friends. For forty five years she made annual trips to the Georgian Bay with a particularly close circle of life-long friends. Her wonderful sense of humor, love of animals, and passion for books and music brightened her life and the lives of those she loved. She laughed and could be heard singing until the very end.
A Celebration of Betty's life will be held on Tuesday, July 9, 2013, from 4:00-8:00 p.m. at the Batson's home in Madison. Please contact Cress Funeral Services for details. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial contributions be made in Betty's name to Agrace Hospice www.agracehospice.org or the Mann Educational Opportunity Fund, www.mannfund.org .