Betty Foster Gentsch, 85, passed away peacefully with her family by her side in Issaquah on Sept. 11, 2014.
Betty Foster Gentsch
She was a loving wife and mother, devoted grandmother, favorite aunt, friend and volunteer to numerous community organizations.
Betty was born on July 28, 1929, in Brooklyn, New York, and graduated from W.C. Mepham High School in the class of 1947. She attended St. Lawrence University for two years as an English major before transferring to Columbia University to fulfill her life’s dream of becoming a nurse. In 1952, she received her Bachelor of Science and nursing certification.
One week after graduation, Betty married her childhood sweetheart, Thomas (Tom) Gentsch, of Merrick, New York. She served as a certified public health nurse for the New Haven Visiting Nurse Service for two years and then joined the faculty at Yale University School of Nursing for a year, teaching contagious disease nursing. Betty retired from professional nursing in 1955, when her first son was born. By 1960, there were four sons, and she had a full-time job as mother and “domestic engineer.”
Betty and Tom moved to Miami, Florida, in 1961. Beyond the challenges of raising four boys, Betty found time to be involved with the PTA and Boy Scouts, as well as sing in the church choir and stay active in sports. Other voluntary involvements were often centered on her love of nursing; she ran and staffed a school health room, worked in the recovery room of a major Miami hospital for 10 years, volunteered at the American Heart Association, and was a board member and chairman of health services at a life-care retirement facility.
Beginning in 1981, Betty and Tom embarked on new adventures doing medical mission work in Africa. They spent several six- to eight-week stints providing surgical and nursing care in Cameroon, Madagascar, Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
In 1988, Betty and Tom relocated to Boone, North Carolina, to enjoy their retirement in the country. Betty enjoyed the quieter life and her interests shifted to horseback riding. She also continued her passion for volunteerism through the local hospice organization and found another vehicle to give back to others by becoming a member of Philanthropic Educational Organization (P.E.O.).
In 1999, with family already living in the Seattle area, Betty and Tom relocated to Issaquah. As always when moving to a new home, they quickly made friends and became involved in the community, notably Saint Andrew’s Lutheran Church, Providence Point and Timber Ridge at Talus. Betty once again found her volunteer niche at the local hospital and continued her involvement with P.E.O. as a member of Chapter HE.
Betty is preceded in death by less than two months by her husband of 61 years, Thomas Otto Gentsch, and her father and mother Ben and Helen Foster. She is survived by her four sons, Tom, Richard (Debbie), John (Joanna) and David (Karen), as well as six grandchildren.
In lieu of flowers, remembrances and donations in memory of Betty Foster Gentsch may be sent to P.E.O. (www.peointernational.org) or to Saint Andrew’s Lutheran Church – Missionary Support (www.salchome.org). The family is planning a celebration of life in the fall of this year.