Betty Jean Moen

Betty Jean Moen, 84, Pahrump, Nevada, formerly of Mayville, North Dakota, died April 16, 2015, in Summerlin Hospital, Las Vegas, Nevada. Betty was born May 25, 1930, in Hope, North Dakota, to Hartwell Blair and Thea (Brainerd) Burner. Betty was educated in Mayville Public Schools. On September 28, 1947, she was united in marriage to the love of her life, Theron Howard Moen. They lived in Mayville until 2008, when they moved to Pahrump, Nevada, to be close to their children. Betty spent most of her life raising her three children and hundreds of young women at Mayville State University, where she worked in Agassiz Hall until her retirement in 1995. After her retirement, Betty spent many spring, summer, and autumn days working in her much loved flower gardens, taking care of her grandchildren, and riding herd on Howard. Betty was active in the Mayville Congregational/United Church of Christ, both keeping the church clean and ready for services and serving in the Ladies Aid. Betty was an active member of the Care Club, as she called it, which gave her great pleasure and much satisfaction. She looked forward to the Thursday lunch at Paula’s and working on cards in the basement of the Union Hospital. This organization brought her such immense joy, and the members were always quick to laugh at her jokes, praise her work, and remember her with cards long after she moved to Nevada. Betty was a member of the Order of Eastern Star. She spent many years enjoying the company of the other women who were part of a local homemaker’s club, and she loved trying some of their recipes, even when they didn’t always work out so well. Betty was an avid wine and beer maker, and when some of her bottles exploded, she used the stories to delight her friends. After her move to Nevada, Betty enjoyed her garden, complete with its multitude of rose bushes. Every day she could be found outside talking to her plants, trimming and watering, and loving every minute of the time she was able to spend in her garden. Although she was forced to use a walker, she would horrify her children when she would sit on the seat of the walker and scoot backwards across the grass, making certain she didn’t miss a single rose bush. “I’m being careful,” she would remark, but her children still didn’t approve of her daredevil gardening. A lifelong reader, Betty was a member of the Mayville book club. Although there wasn’t an equivalent in Pahrump, she continued to read her favorite authors. Betty lived her life on her terms, making certain the hard decisions that her children would face after her passing were already made. She wore her stubbornness to the end. Betty is survived by her children Claire Moen of Pahrump, Nevada; Mitzi (William) Guinn of Moore, Oklahoma; and Bruce (Julianne) Moen of Beatty, Nevada; grandchildren, Tara (John) Sharp, Sarah Legowski, Amanda Guinn, Alicia Guinn and her partner Erich Tolman, Elizabeth Moen, Erik Moen, and Kevin Moen; great-grand children, Aubrey and Brody Sharp and William Tolman; brothers H. Blair (Lavina) Burner and Robert (Judy) Burner, sisters Phyllis (Harley) Turner, June (Dallas) Johnson, and Margit Eastman; 16 nieces and nephews; and cousins from both the Burner and the Brainerd families. Betty was preceded in death by her beloved husband Howard, infant son Mark Douglas, and her parents Hartwell and Thea Burner. Betty’s memorial service will be held at 2:00 PM on Saturday, June 13 at the Mayville Congregational United Church of Christ in Mayville, North Dakota; she will be buried next to her cherished husband of over 60 years.