Betty Conner Webster

Betty Conner Webster, age 95, passed away peacefully on Thanksgiving Day, November 22, 2012 at Covenant Shores Retirement Community of Mercer Island. Betty was born to Otto and Margaret Conner in Moscow, Idaho on May 28, 1917. The family moved to Minneapolis during her early childhood years before moving to Seattle when she was 12.She graduated from Roosevelt High School in 1935 and then attended the University of Washington for two years where she studied fashion and was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta Sorority. Her love for the outdoors led her to Mt. Rainier where she worked for several summers before moving to Los Angeles to pursue a career in the fashion industry. She met her husband, Harry, while working in Los Angeles and they were married in Seattle on March 25, 1939. They moved to Mercer Island in 1949 and raised four children there. Betty was very active in the Milk Fund organization and was a den mother for the Cub Scouts and Camp Fire Girls. She loved sports and participated in badminton, softball, snow skiing, cycling and bowled with Harry for over 20 years in a local league. She was an enthusiastic supporter of her kids’ activities and even developed her own statistical recording system for baseball, which she employed at every game she attended. She was an excellent cook, an avid gardener, and was very skilled at all types of knitting and sewing. Betty was always an avid reader and her interest in books led her to re-enter the working world in the early 1960’s as a librarian for both the Mercer Island Public Library and Mercer Island High School. Upon retirement, she and Harry moved to Covenant Shores and enjoyed a life of adventure involving travels around the world. She loved gathering shells, sand, rocks, and driftwood from the many beaches she and Harry explored, and at one time had a collection of over 20,000 shells. She was once bestowed the title ‘The Shell Lady’ in an article the Mercer Island Reporter wrote about her in the late 1980’s. She will always be remembered for her enthusiasm and optimism. Betty was preceded in death by her husband Harry (1998) and her son Bruce (2001). She is survived by sister Patricia Green; sons William and Jim; daughter Judy West; grandchildren Jennifer (Adam), Joel (Lisa), Conner and Jaime; and great-grandchildren Callum, Flynn, and Noah. The family suggests that memorial donations be made to your favorite charity.