Obituary

Betty Roach
Roach

Fossil

October 11, 1921 — December 2, 2020

Death finally called Betty Ann Gerking Roach on Wednesday, December 2, 2020; she had reached the age of 99. Her vision was poor, and she was ready to meet her Savior. A graveside service will be held on Thursday, December 10, 2020, at 1 p.m. at Olney Cemetery in Pendleton. She will be buried next to her husband, Fred.

Betty Ann Gerking was born in Heppner, Oregon, on October 11, 1921, to Mart Braden and Lillis Slaughter Gerking. She was named Betty Ann after Granddad Slaughter’s sister Betty and Braden’s sister Ann.

At the age of nine days, she traveled with her parents by team to Hot Springs, Oregon. A post office, general store, a big hotel and also a dance hall were located there. Betty had one sibling, a younger brother, Clark, who passed away in 2005.

She rode four miles to a one-room school at Three Mile from the first through the fifth grade. Then her parents rented a ranch closer to Ritter and she finished the eighth grade at Ritter School. She then boarded at St. Joseph Academy in Pendleton, graduating from high school there in 1942. The high school she attended was taught by nuns and Betty worked her way through school by cleaning for the nuns. She also sold Clovine Salve during school years and after she married.

Betty grew up on the banks of Eight Mile Creek, where she learned to ride, rope, and handle a team. She spent many hours in the fields. Her dad had land across the North Fork of the John Day River and as she grew older, she did a lot of riding after the cattle, packing out salt and such. She developed quite a reputation as a horse woman. Like her father, who was a rodeo rider for many years, she spent many hours on horseback and was well-known for her skill. Her favorite horse was Poka Dot. She attended her first rodeo in 1932, when she was 11 years old.

Betty studied and received a certificate from the Berry School of Horsemanship. She also went to Weather Bureau School in Seattle, Washington. Then worked as a filing clerk for the Thirteenth Naval District.

On March 4, 1944, Betty married Raleigh Weaver. They moved back to Ritter country and worked on various ranches. They divorced on December 3, 1962, and she married Fred Roach. She and Fred traveled extensively due to Fred’s shearing sheep and falling timber. They made their home at Elk City, Idaho, for some five years, then moved to Hermiston, Oregon, and bought an acreage as Fed had a job shearing feed-lot-lambs. They raised orphan lambs and calves.

They sold the place in Hermiston and moved to Boardman to care for Betty’s parents. After the death of her parents in 1973, they sold the holdings in Boardman and moved to Helix. Again, they sold and moved up to the Wenatchee River area Leavenworth. They stayed there one winter and decided there was too much snow so moved back to Buck Gulch on the Middle Fork of the John Day river. After several moves, they settled in Fossil to make their final home. Fred passed on December 28, 1995.

In 1998 a life-long friend, Frank Andrus, came up and stayed with Betty. She took care of him up until his death on November 15, 2002. Betty continued to live by herself until she became ill and moved to Haven House Retirement Center in 2009. There, Betty joined in on activities, church services, Bible study, bowling, bingo, and such, even to the last two weeks of her life.

Although Betty had no children of her own, she became a “mom” figure to her husband’s grandchildren and to children belonging to friends and other family. One of them, Penny Baldwin, became like a daughter to her and she and Penny became very close, sharing everything from sewing hints to Betty’s personal history. Frequent visits from Bill and Kathleen, Lorie and Zenith were always welcome at Betty’s place.

She is survived by many friends, both within her church (Fossil United Methodist), where she was baptized, and outside of it. Betty will be missed. She was a good friend to us all.

Memorial contributions may be made to Haven House Retirement Center, P.O. Box 386, Fossil, OR 97830.

Sweeney Mortuary of Heppner is in care of arrangements. You may sign the online condolence book at www.sweeneymortuary.com.