Betty Jane Stewart

Betty Jane Moffitt Durand Stewart, 87, died at her son’s home in Anchorage April 2, 2012.

She was born in Superior, Mont., on May 23, 1924, and the Moffitt family moved from the Dust Bowl Depression area of Dunn Center, N.D., to Alaska in the fall of 1937, arriving in the Palmer area in December 1937.

Betty attended Palmer High School and lettered in basketball. John Durand met Betty at Palmer High School, and eventually they married and moved to a home on 12th Avenue in Anchorage. Their first son, Patrick J. Durand, was born Nov. 9, 1943.

Mother Betty was a home-keeper who welcomed a regular parade of family and friends from the Valley as overnight guests. From 1956 to 1963, John and Betty and their five children lived in Whittier, where John was superintendent of the petroleum, oil and lubricants tank farm. If Mother Betty ever had a down day, no one ever knew it. Her admonitions were, “Your life is just what you make of it!” “What you see is what you get!” and “It’s good enough for who it is for!”

John died in 1964 and Betty married longtime family friend William T. Stewart in 1965. There were then occasionally eight “kids” underfoot with the addition of Marshal, Mark and Little Bill, Betty’s new step-sons. For years, BS and BS (Betty and Bill Stewart), hosted the summer railroaders picnic in their large backyard on Greenland Drive.

Betty cared for William during his declining health and fight with Alzheimer’s until his death at age 87 in 2002. She maintained her home with assistance from her daughter, Lillian Erickson, and sons, Robert and Patrick, until 2009. Since that time she has enjoyed the care and comfort of her mother-in-law’s apartment at the home of Robert and Linda Durand.

Betty Stewart was a member of the Palmer Loyal Order of Moose Lodge Women’s Auxiliary and Pioneers of Alaska, and regularly hosted refreshments for Tuesday night meetings of the Alaska Prospectors Society.

Preceding her in death was her mother, Sarah (Sadie Hecker) Moffitt; father, Archie R. Moffitt; siblings, Alice, Leonard, Thomas, Clema, Ruth, Owen, Wallace and Ann; husbands, John H. Durand and William T. Stewart; sons, Michael Duane Durand and James Archie Durand; and step-son, Marshal Stewart.

Surviving is a large, loving extended family and lifelong friends in Alaska and beyond.

A public memorial celebration is at 2 p.m., May 6 at the Anchorage Moose Lodge with a potluck to follow. The annual family picnic is July 1 in Palmer, and will celebrate 75 years since the Moffitt family arrival in Alaska and will include a celebration of life for Betty.