Betty Jean Trenchard

Betty Jean was born in Cambridge, Nebraska, to Charles Alonzo Hilton and Louise Darlage. The youngest of eight children, Betty was raised on a farm and grew up loving the outdoors and animals of every kind, but especially horses. (Every new year brought a new horse calendar to her kitchen wall.) Her primary school education consisted of the local one-room, country schoolhouse. For several years, her older sister Helen was the teacher. One year, she was the only student in the district and her sister was the teacher so they had school at home in the farmhouse.

For her high school years, Betty moved into town with her sister, Jerry and her husband Cordy Kester. Jerry and Cordys children - Phil, Joan, and Susan became like a second set of siblings to her. In high school, she beat out her future husband, Jack Trenchard, for the fastest typing skills. They were both officers in their senior class Betty was Vice President, while Jack served as Treasurer.

After high school, Betty held a couple of secretarial positions, one at the FSA office in York and another at the AAA office in Beaver City. (Judging by the files she kept at home, she must have been a very good secretary). Following in her older sisters footsteps, Betty decided to apply to the Cadet Nurse Corps Training Program. She was accepted and spent the next three years 1944 to 1947 earning her R.N. license in Lincoln, NE. This turned out to be a profession she would stick with throughout her life, was very happy with, and quite skilled at.

At the end of her nursing school program, Betty married her high school sweetheart, Jack Trenchard, who had just returned from serving in WWII. They settled for some years in Cambridge, but eventually moved to Denver, Colorado so Jack could pursue his C.P.A. license at the University of Denver. They had five children, in order: John, Alice, Jim & Joe (twins), and Barbara. Throughout her years in Denver, Betty held a variety of nursing positions, including hospital nursing, school nursing, and private duty nursing. Mid-career, and while her children were still at home, Betty returned to college and earned her Bachelors of Nursing from Metropolitan State College of Denver. All in all, Betty worked as a nurse for over thirty years. Her longest stint of employment was at General Rose Hospital, from which she retired, but she also spent significant years with Rocky Mountain Osteopathic Hospital, Saint Josephs Hospital, Childrens Hospital, Denver Public Schools, and Colorado Womens College.

A back injury sustained in the workplace led her to retire in her early 60s. After retirement, Betty actively pursued her interests in both poetry and painting. She attended numerous poetry conferences and received numerous awards and notable mentions. She was an active member of her local P.E.O Chapter EH for over 60 years.

Betty is survived by her daughters, Alice Kloppel of Phoenix, AZ and Barbara Trenchard, her sons, John Trenchard and Jim Trenchard, all of Denver, and seven grandchildren: Kirsten Dukeshier, Jeff Kloppel, Andrew Kloppel, Shannon French, Sean Trenchard, Cindy Trenchard, Jenny Trenchard, and seven great-grandchildren.