Betty S. C. Jones

Betty Smull Campbell Jones

September 25, 1919 – December 25, 2010

      Betty lived in the home she shared with her husband on Bainbridge Island, WA to the proud age of 91. She died at home in her sleep on Christmas morning, 2010.

      Betty was born in Yakima, WA on September 25, 1919 to Harold and Cecile Smull. Her grandparents were Yakima area pioneers and her family is well represented in the Yakima Valley Museum. Her mother was one of four strong-willed sisters who were a close-knit family that helped raise and care for each other’s children and remained very close throughout their lives. Betty attended local schools and graduated from Yakima High mid-semester 1936. She finished out the school year at Yakima’s Thoma Business College. Her best friend during her growing up years was her first cousin “Toots” Rowe and they remained close throughout their lives.

      The youngest of her three sisters was her Aunt Ted (very few people knew that her real name was Theodora!) It was this favorite aunt who convinced Betty to move to Walla Walla and attend Whitman College. The immediate problem was the expense of attending college away from home. Living up to her family’s tradition of independent women, she didn’t even consider asking her parents for financial help; instead she consulted the “Help Wanted” section of the local newspaper, the Walla Walla Union Bulletin. Soon after, there appeared an ad for a teletype setter at the newspaper. Who knew what a teletype setter was, but she knew it involved typing and thanks to Thoma College, that was one of her skills. She applied for and was selected for the position. She never applied for another job in her life. That single job application turned into a 33-year newspaper career that was “personally satisfying, financially rewarding and always a pleasant and stimulating environment”. It also made Whitman College a reality.

      She met her future husband, Walla Walla native Fred Campbell, at Whitman. They married on September 14, 1941, not long before WWII started for America on December 7, 1941. Fred was already trained as a small aircraft pilot through a program at Whitman. He was recruited into a “Service Pilot” category in the Army Air Force and soon earned 2nd Lieutenant rank. Betty was able to follow him to several base assignments, including Sacramento, CA, Merced, CA (where their first son was born) and Roswell, NM. Upon discharge, they returned to Walla Walla where Fred used his flying skills to start his own crop dusting business.

      Betty returned to her position at the Walla Walla Union Bulletin where she remained until her retirement in 1985. During those 33 years, she learned newer and newer printing technologies as digital production processes, computers and offset presses replaced the hot metal linotype and typesetter jobs. The Seattle Times purchased the Union Bulletin in 1971, which was good news for Betty and family because, for the first time, health insurance and a pension were available.

      Betty and Fred had three sons. Jeff Campbell now in Sutler Creek, CA, John Campbell now in San Antonio, TX and Tim Campbell now in Auburn, WA. During those years, Betty was also president of the Republican Women of Walla Walla, a member of the St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, a member of the Delta Gamma Alumni chapter, Daughters of the Pioneers of Washington and a perennial officer in her children’s PTA.

      Fred passed away in September, 1990. On June 29, 1991 Betty married an old friend and one-time Walla Walla next-door neighbor, Leland Jones. Lee was semi-retired and living on Bainbridge Island after a rewarding career with the Army Corps of Engineers and with the Seattle engineering firm Shannon & Wilson. Betty sold her Walla Walla home and moved to Bainbridge where Lee and Betty lived. They both enjoyed traveling and had nearly 20 years together to make many memorable trips and cruises throughout the world. Lee was also an avid and skilled sailor and had built a 35-ft. Jason sailboat that they used to sail and explore the San Juans. When they disappeared on these long sailing trips into the vastness of Puget Sound with “captain” Lee in his mid 80’s and “First Mate” Betty, a not-much-younger novice sailor, the family worried if they would actually reappear. They always did, along with hair-raising stories of their adventures!

      Betty was a proud member of P.E.O. International. Friendship is a cornerstone of the sisterhood and Betty had many close “sisters” both in Walla Walla and on Bainbridge Island. She was a good bridge player and, along with Fred and sons Jeff and John had the requisite number that is required for the game. Many family hours were spend around a bridge table – with occasional breaks for meals and other annoying interruptions.

      She was preceded in death by her father and mother, her husband Fred, her husband Lee, her brother Robert Smull, her Aunt Ted and her cousin “Toots” Rowe.

      She is survived by her three sons, her stepchildren Alan Jones and Marcia Washburn and their spouses, all of Bainbridge Island, her sister-in-law Marilyn Smull of Chicago and her beloved cousins Robin Spaan (Orange City, IA) and Denise Campbell (Yakima, WA).

      Family and friends are respectfully invited to an open house at the family home on Saturday, January 1, 2011 from 2 until 5 PM. The address is 10225 Manitou Beach Drive, Bainbridge Island. Betty will be buried next to her husband Lee at Kane Cemetery on Bainbridge Island.

      Please sign the online Guest Book for the family at: www.cookfamilyfuneralhome.com.

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