Betty Patricia Barnes

Betty Patricia Barnes, 92, of Etna, passed away peacefully at the Madrone Hospice House in Yreka on March 14, 2013. Betty made remarkable recoveries from a broken wrist in November and a subsequent fall in January which resulted in a broken hip. However, she was unable to overcome the effects of a second broken hip at the end of February this year. Betty was born on Sept. 2, 1920 to Edgar L. and Pauline E. (Ryerson) Badgley in Los Angeles, Calif. She graduated from John Marshall High School in Los Angeles in 1938 and went on to the University of California at Davis where she completed the two-year degree program in May 1940. Betty also attended the Sawyer School of Business, and worked as a secretary at Gladding McBean Pottery Co., the Western Livestock Journal and Radio Station KMTR in Los Angeles. During World War II, she worked at Vega Aircraft. On May 16, 1943, Betty married Glenn C. Barnes from Visalia who she'd met at UC Davis. Following their wedding, Betty worked at Nash deCamp Packing House in Exeter, for AAA, and taught fourth grade in Visalia. In 1946, Betty and Glenn used their savings to make a small down-payment on the rustic Fay Ranch in Scott Valley. An early priority was to install indoor plumbing and retire the outhouse before the kids were born. While Glenn focused on increasing the productivity of the ranch, Betty turned her talent to improving the house, yard and garden, and raising their three children. Betty and Glenn opened their house to friends, relatives, college students and foreign students. Betty was a gracious hostess and a good cook. They hosted foreign students through Farm Bureau and the American Field Service (AFS), including Loic LeGuillouzer from France. Many UC Davis students hired to work on their ranch under the Farm Practice Program lived with the family during the summer. Betty was a longtime active member of the Etna United Methodist Church, a member of the Siskiyou County CowBelles (Cattlewomen) since 1955, a tutor for several foreign students and she served as the Etna 4-H community leader. She especially enjoyed teaching "her boys" 4-H outdoor camp cooking. In 1976, Betty was honored as Siskiyou County CowBelle of the Year, and as Pioneer Cattle Woman in 2004. A lifelong learner, Betty took classes in sewing, photography, woodworking, geology and botany. Through neighbor Dorothy Parker, Betty expanded her knowledge of wildflowers, and was active in the local Rock Garden Club. Betty loved hiking to mountain lakes with "her buddies" to check out the wildflowers. On her 86th birthday, Betty hiked 12 strenuous miles with family members to Hogan Lake in the Salmon Mountains near her home. Betty enjoyed genealogy and spent a great deal of time researching her family and visiting newly-discovered relatives in Montana, the Palouse region of Washington, Kentucky, Ontario Canada, and the Finger Lakes region of western New York, where she visited the graves of her Danish immigrant great-grandparents. Betty was preceded in death by her parents, her sister Virginia Rome of Rancho Palos Verdes and her husband Glenn in 1994. She is survived by her children: Steve (Paula) Barnes of Castro Valley, Patty (Bruce) Davie of Susanville and Rick (Nancy) Barnes of Callahan; eight grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren and one great-great-granddaughter; plus many special nieces and nephews. A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 23, 2013 at the Etna United Methodist Church, 137 Diggles St. in Etna. Private inurnment will be in the Etna Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Betty's name to Madrone Hospice, 255 Collier Circle, Yreka, CA 96097; the Etna United Methodist Church; Scott Valley Scholarships, P.O. Box 352, Etna CA; or to the charity of choice.

Betty Patricia Barnes

September 2, 1920 - March 14, 2013