Betty LaVerne Saunders Morton

Betty LaVerne Saunders Morton

WEST HAVEN - Our beautiful Mother, Grandmother, Great-grandmother, Sister, Aunt, and Friend joined her beloved husband, Bill, on Monday, June 24, 2013. There is a big party in Heaven now as she is with those who went before her.

Born to Mary and Roy Saunders January 19, 1924, Betty grew up in Ogden and later in Kanesville, Utah. Despite frequently being confined to bed with rheumatic fever she graduated Weber High in 1943 and met and fell madly in love with a young U.S. Marine, William "Bill" Morton. They married March 26, 1945.

The military transferred Betty and Bill to South Dakota, Washington, and California. Although told they could not have children, their first daughter, Shari, was born while they were in England. Bill lost his leg during the Korean War, so Betty returned home tending a new-born and assisting in Bill''s rehabilitation. Soon they moved to the home on Rue Ann Court in Ogden, and their second daughter, Kathy, was born.

A gifted speaker and writer, Betty won many awards throughout her life. Like her own mother, Betty was a skilled seamstress who made matching dresses for her and her girls. When Bill passed away due to complications from surgery in 1965, Betty shouldered the duties of a single parent. She learned to drive and convinced the new director of I.R.S to hire her. Even before she earned a degree in accounting from Stevens Henager, notebooks from the 1960s show she was very thrifty with the family money. And despite a limited budget, she always made sure her girls and family were taken care of, and that she could have a touch of elegance she was noted for a€" crystal goblets, fine china, and the lovely chandelier for her living room. However, Betty, herself, was light and love.

She traveled to Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand, Europe and throughout the United States. She also went on cruises to Mexico and Alaska.

Betty was a devoted member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints -- a Primary President, Sunday School Teacher, Primary Teacher, Young Women''s Teacher, and Relief Society President, and as the Stake Single Adult Leader she helped to fill the Ogden Tabernacle with standing room only audiences for LDS leaders.

Once her daughters married she helped her siblings care for their father and his second wife, Phoebe. Despite breast cancer, and eventually an aortic valve replacement, she was there for her father, mother, stepmother, sister, Marjorie, and brother, Lyle, who preceded her in death.

After 45 years on Rue Ann Court, Betty returned to the area where she grew up. She broke her hip and had it replaced two years after moving into her new home. Almost two years later she was placed on Hospice, but kept surprising the doctors and nurses by continually rallying.

She will be remembered as the grandmother and aunt who attended piano recitals, boy scout award ceremonies, and Sunday school talks, who always remembered birthdays, anniversaries, and special occasions. Her laughter and wink will be so missed. For nearly 48 years she never forgot the love of her life, Bill. She always slept with his picture under her pillow.

Betty is survived by her daughters, Shari Nevitt and Kathleen "Pepper" Morton-Gregory (Skip); brothers, Richard Saunders (Laraine), and Lynn Saunders (Joyce); sister, Virginia Briscoe (Gene); and sister-in-law, Pat Saunders; grandchildren, Dustin Gregory, Adam Nevitt, Heidi (Nevitt) Wilcox, Miriam (Nevitt) Rasmussen, and Andrew Nevitt; and great-grandchildren, Addison, Sheridan, Aiden, Ellie, and Alyse.

Many thanks to Summit Hospice (Brenda Postel, Jandie Stebar, Triona McMaster, Wes Wilde, and the other fine staff). Plus Betty''s favorite physician, Dr. Corey Ferguson.

Funeral services will be held on Saturday, June 29, 2013 at 1 p.m. at Lindquist''s Ogden Mortuary, 3408 Washington Blvd. Friends may visit with family on Friday from 6 to 8 p.m. and Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the mortuary.

Interment, Lindquist''s Memorial Gardens of the Wasatch, 1718 Combe Road, South Ogden.