Born Betty L. Hoffsett on May 24, 1918, in Wamego, Kan., she was raised on a farm, the only daughter of five children. Two brothers died in infancy. She attended Wamego High School, where she was captain of the women's basketball team and won a scholarship to business college.

She married her college sweetheart, Eldon Boyington, on May 23, 1942. She was widowed when he was killed by a sniper in Forbach, France on Feb. 21, 1945, during World War II. Betty then married Jack Edward Beard on Aug. 22, 1951, and they had two children, Michael Edward and Theresa Gail.

She worked many places as a personnel specialist for the federal government for 35 years, most of the time in Albuquerque, N.M. for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, with stints in Eklutna and Madrid.

Betty was widowed a second time in 1973 and continued to live on in Albuquerque with her beloved horses and dogs. She was involved in local politics and enjoyed ballroom dancing tournaments. In 1988 she moved to Homer to be with her daughter Theresa and son-in-law John Bolbos.

Her family said, "She was a classy lady the likes of which you don't see much anymore. She will be forever loved. Death is not the extinguishing of the light, but the blowing out of the candle, because the dawn has come."

She is survived by her brother, Richard Hoffsett of Topeka, Kan., and her daughter Theresa Beard of Homer.