Betty Ruth Shropshire Mattocks, 80, died May 12, 2009, at San Luis Obispo, Calif., where she had lived since 1951.
She was born in Ashland, Kan., on Feb. 2, 1929, to Robert David Shropshire and Hazel Viola Fox Shropshire, the fifth of six children: Byrdie Opal, John Otis, Mildred Louise, Bonnie Lee, who died at birth, and Kenneth Ray. The family lived on a farm northeast of Mount Jesus on the road to Lexington.
Toward the end of World War II, the family moved to Baker to be near Betty’s sister, Opal Shropshire Dielman and her two children (Opal’s husband, Ray, was in the military). After the war, the family returned to Kansas, while Betty remained in Baker City, where she graduated from Baker High School in 1947.
After graduation, Betty moved to the Los Angeles area, where two siblings, John Shropshire and Mildred Louise Shropshire Shanks, lived. In 1950, Betty was briefly married to Gene Martinez. Two years later she married Howard Bello, a marriage of 21 years that ended with Howard’s death in 1973. In 1976, Betty married George S. Mattocks, a life-long resident of San Luis Obispo, Calif.
She worked in a dental clinic in Los Angeles, but after a few years settled in San Luis Obispo, where she worked 12 years as secretary for the AAA Auto Club of Southern California. From about 1964 until 1981 she was secretary for the Laborers International Union of North America, Local #1464, where she met her husband, George, who was the union’s secretary-treasurer.
Betty was preceded in death by her parents and all five siblings.
She is survived by her husband, George S. Mattocks of San Luis Obispo, Calif.; nephews and nieces Gary Dielman of Baker City, Sharon Dielman Moser of Bellevue, Wash., Curtis Shropshire of Clayton, Calif., and Cindy Dielman Carlson of Gresham.
Contributions in her memory may be made to the Clark County Historical Society/Pioneer-Krier Museum in Ashland, Kan.
Used with permission from: Baker City Herald, Baker City, Oregon, May 18, 2009
Transcribed by: Belva Ticknor