BETTY F. BANKS <\/p>\n
Betty F. Banks lived a vibrant 90 years before peacefully passing away in her son\u2019s home on September 16, 2011. <\/p>\n
Betty was born on July 9, 1921, in the midst of a flood in Pueblo, Colorado to Frank and Fern (Mutz) Piersall. She was the youngest of three daughters: Dorothy, Helen and Betty. She lived in 27 homes in the first 20 years of her life living in Colorado, Michigan and finally settling in Nampa, Idaho. There she attended school and graduated from Nampa High School in 1940. Throughout her high school and young adult life she was a trained classical musician singing soprano and winning numerous awards. Music remained a great love of her life. <\/p>\n
Betty married Chuck Banks in the backyard of her parents\u2019 home on July 27, 1941. They began their 58 years together with Chuck being called into service for his country. Chuck was deployed to northern Africa flying missions over Germany. The day she took her daughter Marjean home from the hospital she learned Chuck\u2019s plane had been shot down and he was \u201cmissing in action\u201d. It was two months later that she learned he had been taken prisoner of war. <\/p>\n
When Chuck returned from World War II, he and Betty, along with Howard Nafzinger, opened Nafzinger-Banks Men\u2019s Store in Nampa, Idaho. In 1950 they opened a second store in Caldwell, Idaho, which became Chuck Banks\u2019 Store For Men. Betty and Chuck made their home in Caldwell until 1980. <\/p>\n
Betty was Chuck\u2019s business partner at the store and a wonderful wife and mother. She was known for providing Tom and Bob\u2019s athletic teams with chocolate chip cookies and milk. When her daughter was in the first grade Betty started a Brownie Girl Scouts Troop. She kept this troop together and remained its leader until the girls graduated from high school becoming the infamous Girl Scout Troop 2. They traveled all over Idaho and the Northwest and continued to stay in touch with each other. Their most recent adventure took them to Africa in 2001. <\/p>\n
Betty was an elder in the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. serving at Boone Memorial Presbyterian Church in Caldwell. As a youth advisor she assisted with several mission trips and as an elder made sure that \u201cBoone\u201d and the Presbytery of Boise supported her son, Tom, in his pursuit of ministry. <\/p>\n
She and her husband, Chuck, were very proud of their son Bob and his acceptance into the Air Force Academy. It was at this time they sold the clothing store and began their pursuit of their own college educations. Betty entered college at the age of 52 and graduated from the College of Idaho in 1977 with a teaching degree. She taught special education in the Boise valley until her retirement. <\/p>\n
In 1980 Betty and Chuck retired to a beloved cabin in Cascade, Idaho. From there they traveled the world: China, Korea, New Zealand, and doing elder hostels all over the United States. Then in 1995 Betty and Chuck moved to Helena, Montana. <\/p>\n
Betty was known for her faith in God and people, love of country, her wonderful wit and interesting way with words, and her amazing friendship to both young and old. One cannot think of Betty Banks without mentioning her best friend Martha Horton, who preceded Betty in death by only a few months. Betty and Martha raised their families together and remained best friends \u2018til the end. <\/p>\n
Betty was preceded in death by her husband, parents, sisters and her daughter-in-law Teresa. <\/p>\n
She loved her Lord with all her heart, mind, body and soul and her family and friends. She is survived by her daughter Marjean, son-in-law Lee Norland and their two children, Khil and Aemee\u2019 and great grandson Michael; her son Bob and his two children: Ryan and Andrea and Andrea\u2019s husband Todd Rubin; her son Tom daughter-in-law Paula and their four children, Victor, Marnee\u2019, Charla, Valdez and great grandson Dante, as well as a special mother relationship to Roger Cantlon his wife Vicki and their children Lori and Chris. <\/p>\n
In lieu of flowers the family suggests memorial gifts to MorningStar International Fellowship, 609 S. Harris, Helena, Montana 59601 or a charity of the donor\u2019s choice. <\/p>\n
A celebratory memorial service will be held in Helena at the First Presbyterian Church on Friday, Nov. 18th at 2:00 p.m. There will also be another gathering of family and friends in Idaho in the summer of 2012. At that time the family will scatter Betty\u2019s ashes on her favorite huckleberry hill near Warm Lake, Idaho, where her husband and a few close friends\u2019 ashes have been scattered. People will be informed of this event at a later time.<\/p>\n","photo":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/471938_profile_pic.jpg","youtube_video_url":"","family_email":"","family_first_name":"","family_last_name":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/case\/935","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/case"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/case"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=935"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}