Elizabeth “Betty” Louise Devoe Lynch

Betty Lynch

Elizabeth “Betty” Louise Devoe Lynch died peacefully at Cristwood Assisted Living in Shoreline, Washington on June 24, 2020, at age 87, from complications of Alzheimer’s disease and a broken hip. Her family is grateful that amid the pandemic they could visit her through her last days.

Betty was born in Kaycee, Wyoming on April 25, 1933 to Roy Burton Devoe and Eva Ursulla Stanley Devoe, the fifth of seven children in her family. (The third, James Robert, died at 6 months of age.) The Devoes moved to Benewah County, Idaho when Betty was eight. She grew up along the St. Joe River and graduated from St. Maries High School in 1951, distinguishing herself as a member of the Lumberjack yearbook staff; editor-in-chief of the student newspaper; a member of Quill and Scroll, International Honorary Society for High School Journalists; Class President; Class Treasurer; Salutatorian; drill team majorette; and Sweetheart of St. Maries at the February ball.

She brought still more pride to her hometown by becoming “Miss Benewah 1953” and representing her county in the 1954 Miss Idaho pageant, performing classical piano pieces in the competitions.

Betty continued her breadth of pursuits and accomplishments over the next several decades of her life. After high school she worked for the Benewah County Agent’s office and for General Telephone in Spokane, and she went on to earn a professional secretarial certificate. She settled in Otis Orchards, Washington in 1972, where during her years as a stay-at-home wife and mother she also sold real estate, worked as a reflexologist, and was a Shaklee and Nature’s Sunshine sales consultant. She spent most of her professional career as an administrative assistant in the Spokane Valley, including 30 years at Kaiser Aluminum. And throughout the years, she centered her life around her Christian faith.

In her spare time, she knitted and sewed beautiful clothing and blankets for herself and others. She dabbled in oil painting. She volunteered at church, from tending little ones in the nursery to directing all ages in the Christmas pageant. And she became the family genealogist and reunion organizer, regularly collecting relatives from every branch of her tree for picnics and potlucks over the years. Betty once exclaimed, “I don’t think I’ve ever been bored a day in my life!”

She reunited with high school sweetheart Bobby Gene Lynch and they married in 1988. In 1995 Betty retired from Kaiser to enjoy road trips with Bob across the West and Midwest, as well as accompany her son on Rick Steves tours of France and Italy, which were highlights of her life along with visiting with her grandchildren at every opportunity.

Travel and family gave Betty ample material for her work as a Creative Memories consultant and avid scrapbooker, and she used her time and skill to create beautiful albums for friends and family as well as for her own collection. She also took up playing the fiddle, inspired by the memory of her father playing fiddle tunes at dances in her childhood, and often performed with fellow fiddle students at retirement homes in the Spokane area. And she always enjoyed walks, meals, and movies with friends, including celebratory lunches with her Birthday Bunch.

Betty lost her mother in 1956 and her father in 1968.  She was also preceded in death by Bob, whom she never stopped missing, in 2007, and by all her siblings: Charles Howard Devoe, Lewie Leroy Devoe, Dorsey Nathan Devoe, Franklin Dan Devoe, and Ethel Carolyn Devoe Gwin. Betty used her personal experience with loss to serve others as a GriefShare group leader in the Spokane Valley for years after Bob’s death.

She remained in her home in Otis Orchards until June 2015, when she moved to Cristwood where family could visit her regularly. She is survived by her son, Thomas Louis Fyock Brousseau; her daughter, Jennifer Louise Fyock Kinard; granddaughter Dylan Elizabeth Kinard; grandson Grayson Walker Kinard; and many dear cousins, nieces, nephews, grandnieces, grandnephews, and other extended family, as well as treasured friends and neighbors from her life in the Spokane Valley. Betty brought laughter and warmth to everyone she encountered. She was much loved, and she will be deeply missed.

The family is grateful for the excellent care Betty received in her five years at Cristwood. They especially wish to thank Nurse Carol Podjan for her thoughtful approach and advocacy through the last months of Betty’s life, and Caregiver Eva Ekberg, one of the first staff members to befriend Betty and who remained a caring presence for her up until her death. And they are forever indebted to Betty’s beloved friend Phyllis Jordan, with whom Betty shared a birthday, and who helped care for Betty during her last months in Otis Orchards and through her transition to Cristwood, where she visited Betty as often as the six-hour drive was possible.

Betty’s ashes will be interred with Bob’s at Pines Cemetery, 1402 Pines Road, Spokane Valley, WA. Due to current circumstances, no service is planned; the family appreciates any loving memories and kind words you wish to share here about Betty. They suggest that those wishing to make memorial donations in Betty’s name direct them to KSPS Public Television, Spokane, or to their local public television stations, in tribute to Betty’s decades of support for public television and delight in their art, music, travel, and dramatic programming.