Betty E. Hutson Hibsch, 1926-2000 (52 Ancestors #42)

This is another article for the series "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks", a challenge by Amy Johnson Crow on No Story Too Small.

Betty Evelyn Hutson was born 26 Oct 1926 in Fillmore County, Minnesota.[1]  She was the only child of Herbert C. Hutson and Bernice I. Eisenman Hutson.  She was my mother.

Covina High School 1945
Yearbook Photo
(Click on images to enlarge)

Most of her girlhood was spent in Marshfield, Wood County, Wisconsin.[2]  There, Evylin’s (as she was recorded in the 1930 census) father worked at an ice cream company.  They lived next door to Herbert’s parents, Alva L. Hutson and Ada L. Boruff Hutson, and brother Lawrence.  Alva and Ada had children over a span of 25 years so not surprisingly Betty’s playmates were her uncle and cousin.  In 1930, her father’s youngest brother Melvin was five years old.  He was Betty’s uncle.  Her father’s other brother, Lawrence, had one child, Alva A., age 1.  He was her cousin.

She was still recorded as Evelyn in the 1940 census.[3] The family lived at a different address in Marshfield now.  Her mother worked as a waitress at a restaurant; her father was a mechanic at a garage.  Thirteen year old Evelyn attended Jefferson School.

Jefferson School, Marshfield, Wisconsin
May 1939

In the early 1940s, she and her parents moved to Phoenix, Maricopa County, Arizona.  One of her father’s brothers lived there.  She applied for her Social Security card here.[4]  Next, they moved to Baldwin Park, Los Angeles County, California to work at one of the defense plants during WWII.  Like so many people in my family, Betty attended Covina High School, graduating in 1945.[5] Following high school, Betty attended business school to become a bookkeeper.

Betty Hutson, age 15, and Spotty
May 1942

On 8 Nov 1946, she married Robert M. Hibsch at the Chapel of Roses in Pasadena, California.  They had three children.  They lived in Baldwin Park and West Covina until relocating to Williams, Colusa County, California in 1960 then to Sacramento, California in 1961. Robert owned and operated gas stations and Betty kept the books.  Early in their marriage, she was an active member of the Rebekahs, including being an officer, and served as a Boy Scout den mother. 

She died at age 74 on 16 May 2000 of sudden cardiac arrest and was buried at the San Joaquin Valley National Cemetery where Robert was recently interred.

Sources

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[1] Minnesota Historical Society Birth record 

[2] Year: 1930; Census Place: Marshfield, Wood, Wisconsin; Image 12, Line 76. Roll: 2619; Page: 6B; Enumeration District: 0016; Image: 84.0; FHL microfilm: 2342353. Ancestry.com.

[3] Year: 1940; Census Place: Marshfield, Wood, Wisconsin; Image 28, Line 68. Roll: T627_4540; Page: 14B; Enumeration District: 71-17. Ancestry.com.

[4] Number: 527-28-6959; Issue State: Arizona; Issue Date: Before 1951. Ancestry.com.  U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-Current

[5] Covina High School, Covina, Los Angeles County, California. Graduation picture.  U.S. School Yearbooks, 1880-2012. Ancestry.com