Betty May

Betty May Walter Cusick Day was known as many things to many people.  She was an inspiration to all loved ones, a friend and someone especially dear to every member of her Walter Cusick family.  To family and friends who knew her best, Betty will be remembered for her clever, good humor, quick wit, glowing, exuberant personality and a woman who easily amassed her own encyclopedia volume of cooking skills over her life time. Betty honed her skills from her earliest days helping serve logging families inside the kitchen & near the oven, standing eagerly beside her energetic Mother Rosa. Rosa was one of many valuable cooks in the logging camps of the early 1930's inside NW Montana timber sites.      Betty was born on May 31, 1926 at Memorial Hospital in Kalispell, Montana.  She was the daughter of Glenn & Rosa Walter.  Betty grew up in Northwest Montana's Flathead Valley, spending her early days living in a tent in a logging camp helping her Mother cook 3 square meals a day for her father Glenn, the other loggers & their supporting family.      Betty was raised with one sibling, younger brother James S Walter.  Betty was usually involved in all sorts of farm activities with her brother.  She and brother Jim experienced & shared many farm / rural life experiences associated w/ the hard times of the depression / post depression years of the late 1920's early 1930's.      A typical teenager, Betty had a rigorous high school experience of long bus rides to school, study plus work, helping make that critical transition from adolescence to adulthood.  She enjoyed some classes more than others, having favorite subjects like accounting, home economics and boys.      Betty enjoyed learning. Over the years, Betty took multiple bookkeeping, accounting and accounting software classes at College of the Desert, Rancho Mirage, Ca.      Betty worked hard to be a good mother to her children and she did her best to fulfill their needs.  Betty was blessed with three children, Joyce, Gary Jr. & Mary Alice.  Another blessing for Betty was the gift of 4 grandchildren, James Roberts, Cary Anne Soderstrom, Aly Cusick Mallon, Amy Cusick.      Fortunately, Betty enjoyed what she did for a living.  Showing a strong work ethic, Betty worked diligently and did her best to succeed in her career.  She was employed for 16 years w/ La Quinta Country Club, La Quinta, Ca as their Controller and as many years if not more w/ Sykes Grocery Store in downtown Kalispell, Montana.  Betty always sought to be a team player, doing what was necessary in order to get the job done for all of her other fine employers including her early days at Woolworths.      Betty enjoyed her leisure time by taking part in various hobbies.  Her favorite pursuits were watching westerns on her TV, get together family & friend outings, golf, travel to & from Montana, Colorado, Washington locations visiting family.  She was content to enjoy her favorite pastimes alone but was also willing to share her interests with other dear friends and family..      Betty found pleasure in cooking, sports & charity.  Fried chicken, mashed potatoes, shrimp salad, apple pie, divinity, fudge, baseball, golf & the La Quinta Arts Festival were some of her many favorites.  Betty enjoyed following valley current events whenever she had the chance to do so.  She followed the obituaries faithfully and always seemed to know which celeb had either checked out or checked in to the Betty Ford Clinic.Two other joys on her list were cooking for her friends, playing close attention to golf events when Tiger Woods was in his prime. She also willingly dedicated her accounting skills to the La Quinta Arts & Wine Festival yearly events. She also served as behind the scenes staff w/ the many Bob Hope Classic Golf tournaments during her life time in the desert. She just loved the pageantry, color and fanfare of the many high profile women's and men's professional golf tournaments held in her Coachella Valley.  Betty’s faith was important to her.  A Science of the Mind congregation meeting led by Dr. Tom was her top pick. Betty enjoyed traveling and time away on warm weather vacations.  It was a chance for her to renew and relax, to visit new places and experience new things.  Vacationing w/ family in the Hawaiian Islands was always tops on her list. In retirement, she found new pleasure in sitting in awesome desert environment poolside @ her home, playing golf locally w/ her cronies, staying active in church w/ Dr. Tom's congregation, baking cookies, cinnamon rolls & candy for her favorite people like Dr. Belacci and taking computer classes at the local library.  Even in retirement, Betty continued to stay in touch with her old friends while making plenty of new acquaintances in her active Magnesia Falls Cove neighborhood.  Betty was active through her final days of life. Betty passed away at a private board & care home on August 18, 2011 at 10:09 AM w/ her daughter & son by her side.  Betty fought a valiant, no win battle against colon cancer.  She is survived by son Gary Jr., daughter Mary Alice, Grandson James Roberts, Granddaughter's Cary Anne, Alyson & Amy, Great Grandchildren Taylor, Ali & Macy.  Services will be held in Kalispell, Montana at a future date.  Betty will be laid to rest in Glacier Cemetery at a future date. Simply stated, Betty was a dynamic lady. She will be remembered as being a colorful, generous person, someone who was a vital part of their daily lives.  Betty leaves behind her a legacy of life-long friendships and many uproarious moments memories.  Everyone whose life she touched will hold Betty May Walter Cusick Day dear forever.