Betty was the youngest of five children.

Preceding her in death were her brothers and sisters: Maxine Wilson, Burl Wilkes, Francis Wilkes, and Merlin Wilkes all from Sheridan, Wyoming.

Betty's father was James Edward Wilkes. He was an engineer on the CB&Q Railroad, which ran out of Sheridan. Her mother was Elva Maude and she died when Betty was just nine years old.

Betty married Robert Charles Young soon after graduating from Sheridan High School in 1945. Robert joined the Navy and was stationed in Hawaii. At the end of World War II, they moved to Enid, Oklahoma where Betty supported Robert while he attended Phillips University, which was affiliated with the First Christian, Disciples of Christ Church. There he received his Bachelor's of Divinity. Robert joined the Army and became a military chaplain.

Betty and Robert had three children. John was born in 1946, Susan in 1948, and Lynn in 1950. As a military family they moved many times and lived in the following places: Ft. Riley, Kansas, Kitzengen, Germany, and Ft. Benning, Georgia. Betty and the children returned to Sheridan while Robert served in Korea. Robert was then assigned to Sharp Army Depot in Stockton, California and later served in Viet Nam. The family stayed in Stockton where they bought a house for the first time.

Following his tour in Viet Nam the family moved to Ft. Bliss, Texas, Ft. Hamilton, New York, and Robert retired from the military after 20 years from Ft. Ord, Monterey, California. Betty remained a supportive officer's wife throughout all of these moves. She became an expert at entertaining other officers and their wives.

Upon retirement, Betty and Bob moved to Laramie, Wyoming where Bob received his doctorate in communications from the University of Wyoming. They then moved to Athens, Ohio where he taught at Ohio University. Finally, Betty and Bob moved back to Enid, Oklahoma where Bob was a professor at Phillips University. They continued to live in Enid for seventeen years until Robert's death in 1996. They had been married for fifty-one years!

Betty moved to Cincinnati, Ohio in 1997 and resided with her daughter, Susan until her death.

Betty loved kids, bowling, playing bridge, working jigsaw puzzles, snow at Christmas time, reading Reader's Digest and National Geographic. She collected small wooden figurines from all of her travels. She had a passion for drinking coffee and eating chocolate candy and gumdrops. She disliked eating fish, being cold, drinking milk or water.

Her passions were being with people and entertaining at home. She liked gardening and arranging flowers. She was active in church, sang in the choir, and loved playing games with her grandchildren. She was an excellent seamstress and sewed both of her daughters' wedding dresses.

Betty was the stabilizing force in her children's lives. She never complained about moving, was very organized, and taught her children family values, the importance of a relationship with God, and how to love life.

The Sheridan Press - December 29, 2011.