Betty Hassell

Betty Jean Sizer Hassell

July 12, 1926 ~ August 15, 2021

Betty J Sizer Hassell of Riverdale passed away Sunday, August 15, 2021 at the Peterson Farms Assisted Living Center in South Weber, Utah.  Born July 12, 1926, she is the daughter of Malcom A Sizer and Augusta L Peterson Sizer. Betty was blessed to grow up on her family’s cherry and apple farm in the beautiful Bitterroot Valley of Hamilton, Montana. She was the youngest of five children. Her three older sisters Dorothy, Ethel, and Margaret were her best friends throughout her life. The “Sizer girls” learned the value of work and play as they picked fruit in the orchards, milked cows, and worked in their father’s grocery store, “Economy Foods”. After work they would swim in Blodgett Creek, play school with the apple crates her father made by hand, or share a bicycle among them.

After graduation from Hamilton High School, Betty moved to Spokane and attended Kinman Business College.  While there, she went to a USO party and met Walter R (Bud) Hassell. After a short courtship, they were married in Coeur D’Alene, Idaho in May 1952. Their military assignments took them to a remote radar site in Washington; Tripoli, North Africa; and Alexandria, Louisiana before settling in Ogden, Utah. They were the proud parents of two daughters, Terri and Barbara. Betty lived in Roy and Riverdale for the past 56 years. Bud passed away in 1979 after 27 years of marriage. Her daughter, Barbara, passed away in 2014.

She began her civil service career in Louisiana and continued at HAFB as a budget/program analyst. She enjoyed working with the dedicated military personnel and gained lifelong friendships there. Betty retired in 1986. In retirement she loved traveling with her father and sisters.

Her grandchildren looked forward to her tradition of taking each of them on an individual vacation for their first airplane ride when they turned eight years old.  Great-grandchildren knew her as “Grandma coo-coo” because she always had cookies for them when they came to visit.  She was generous in every way and never missed acknowledging each birthday, holiday, and special occasion.

Because Betty experienced many trials in her life, she was always a champion for those with difficult challenges. She became fiercely independent being a widow for 42 years. Some of her favorite things in life were her “standing Friday lunches” with grandchildren and great-grandchildren, playing cards with her friends, accordion music at the festivals in Canada with her sister Margaret, lilac flowers, and licorice ice cream.

Betty is survived by her daughter, Terri (Rich) Radmall, and grandchildren, Jennifer (Sam) Platt, Emily (Brian) Rhees, Bryce (Erica) Radmall, Natalie (Colby) Sherman, Nicholas (Annjanae) Redford, and Vanessa Montoya; 18 great-grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews. We will all miss her greatly!

She was preceded in death by her husband, daughter, a great-grandson, Fredelico; her sisters and a brother, Malcom.

A graveside service will be held on Saturday, August 28, 2021 at 10:30 a.m. at Lindquist’s Washington Heights Memorial Park, 4500 Washington Blvd. Friends may visit with family on Saturday from 9 to 10 a.m. at Lindquist’s Ogden Mortuary, 3408 Washington Blvd.

The family would like to express sincere thanks to those at Peterson Farms and AFI Hospice who were so kind and loving to her in the last difficult weeks.