LUTHERAN QUILTERS – Members of the Quilts for Comfort Group stand between pews draped with some of the 205 quilts they made, in the Sitka Lutheran Church Tuesday. The group made the quilts for five local non-profits and one in Anchorage. The remaining quilts are sent to Lutheran World Relief which distributes them to places around the world in need, such as Ukraine, as part of Personal Care Kits. Pictured are, from left, Helen Cunningham, Kathleen Brandt,Vicki Swanson, Paulla Hardy, Kim Hunter, Linda Swanson and Sue Fleming. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)
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Daily Sitka Sentinel
Services Set June 27 For Betty Jo Anne Henning
Betty Jo Anne Henning
Betty Jo Anne Henning’s spirit departed in eternal peace Saturday morning, June 19, 2021. Her son, daughter and husband were at her side. She was 86 years old and had been a resident of Sitka for 45 years.
A celebration of her life will be held 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday, June 27, at the Halibut Point Recreation Area, main shelter. It will be a potluck.
Betty was born Dec. 2, 1934, in Great Falls, Montana, the daughter of Dorothy Wenzel Berger and Arnold Perrine. As a young girl, she watched her grandfather in his white shirt set linotype for the family owned newspaper, The Cascade Courier. He had an arm band to keep his sleeve from touching the type. One day when he was cleaning out the store room, he found a picture of Chief Joseph. Betty asked, “Grandfather, can I have it?” He said, “You want it, you can have it.” It’s still on Betty and Carl’s living room wall.
Betty loved Montana, its prairies and buttes. From Cascade, Montana, where Betty lived until age 8, she could see Square Butte – a painting of it also is hanging on Betty and Carl’s living room wall.
Betty and her family moved to Oregon on the train, when she was 8. She remembers the porter saying, “Young lady, put your bonnet on before getting off.” Her dad, who was working on the Bonneville Dam, met the train in the dark of night.
The family later moved to Hillsboro, Oregon, where Betty started third grade in a one-room school with no indoor plumbing. Since she was the only one in the third grade, the teacher moved her to the fourth grade. The walk to school was two miles, and she had to pass a big bull with a ring in its nose. She recollected how scary that was. After school she would go with a friend to a horse stable where a famous race horse was kept. They would pet the horses.
She graduated from eighth grade at age 12, with one other classmate. She then went from a school of less than 20 to a freshman class of 200, at Hillsboro High School. Her first day, she focused on finding her classes, spread out over several floors. In her English class, the teacher said, “I hear there is someone 12 years old in here.” Betty said, “I didn’t move or twitch a muscle, and looked straight ahead.” She was put in an algebra class. “My one-room school teacher must have taught me about ‘X’,” she said.
At commencement, the school announced 20 names, including Betty’s. She said, “I didn’t know why, but it was for the honor roll. My parents and uncle were extremely proud. My uncle had also been sponsoring me for vocal lessons.’’
Betty used to sing while her mom played the piano and her uncle Marshal played the fiddle. This led Betty into a music minor at Oregon State College. In 1958 she received the Outstanding Vocalist Award. While in college, Betty was the understudy for the lead in the musical “Oklahoma.” Betty also sang solos for the Christian Science societies in Hillsboro, Corvallis and Gold Beach, Oregon. She was a member of the First Church of Christ Scientist in Boston, Massachusetts.
Prior to attending Oregon State College, Betty worked as a receptionist at a local doctor’s office and later attended business college in Portland, Oregon. At Oregon State, Betty majored in elementary education. She met Carl, the love of her life, at Oregon State. He helped serve meals in the women’s dorm. Betty often said, “He chose me out of 300 girls.”
Betty and Carl were married September 13, 1959. They graduated together, along with Betty’s brother Bob Perrine, in June 1960. They then moved to Amboy, Washington, where Betty started her first teaching job, at Yacolt Elementary School. Her first day her class size was raised from 22 to 33 students – she had her hands full. Yacolt was a small logging and stump farm community. Carl worked for the U.S. Forest Service and they lived on a Forest Service compound. At school, Betty was able to bring in the performing arts with Christmas and other holiday programs.
The family later moved to Gold Beach, Oregon, where Betty raised her kids and was active in the local Christian Women’s organization.
On April 14, 1976, Betty and Carl flew into Sitka, where Carl had a job interview with the Forest Service. It was a beautiful, sunny day, and Betty said, “This is the most beautiful place! This is where I want to be!” In later years, Carl and Betty would drive daily over the O’Connell bridge and Betty would always comment on how beautiful it was to be in Sitka.
Betty started teaching fifth grade in Sitka at Etolin Street School and then fourth grade at Lincoln Street, and a year at Baranof Elementary School as a music teacher and later at Verstovia School (now Keet Gooshi Heen). Betty would say, “there wasn’t a child that I didn’t love, and my heart was with the ones that didn’t have so much.” Sometimes Betty would be walking through town or in a park and a former student would come up and say, “You were my favorite teacher” and give her a big hug. Betty would say later, “How can your bucket be more full than that?!”
Betty held informal Christian Science church services in her home for more than 30 years. She was thankful for all those blessings received. Her faith was her strength.
Some of her favorite verses are from Psalms 139: Verse 14 – I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. – Verse 17 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them! – Verse 18 If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: When I awake, I am still with thee.
Betty is survived by her husband, Carl Henning of Sitka; son Gar Henning of Eagle River; daughter Gretchen Parrish of Sitka; brother Robert Perrine and sister-in-law Evelyn Perrine of Palm Desert, California; and grandchildren Ava Parrish and Alex Parrish of Sitka, and Gavin Henning, Garren Henning of Eagle River.
Also surviving are her aunt, Jackie Berger of Helena; niece Barbara Bodenhoefer of San Juan Capistrano, California; nephew Ron Perrine of 29 Palms, California; and many other family members.
Her cousins are Robert Berger of Port Angeles, Washington, Rick Berger of Helena, Rosanne (Berger) Flan of Shepherd, Montana, Becky Berger of Helena, and Carol Mary Berger Myxter of Fort Collins, Colorado.
The family suggests that in lieu of flowers donations be made to Brave Heart Volunteers.
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20 YEARS AGO
March 2004
Advertisement: Tea-Licious Tea House & Bakery 315 Lincoln Street Grand Opening! Freshly Baked Scones, Cakes & Pastries Innovative Salads, Soups & Sandwiches Harney & Sons Tea. Lunch * Afternoon Tea * Supper.
50 YEARS AGO
March 1974
Photo caption: National Republican Chairman George Bush takes a drink of water offered by Jan Craddick, Sitka delegate, during the Republican convention held here. Mrs. Craddick explained to Bush that the water was from Indian River, which means, according to local legend, that he will return.