Bette Rebecca Dahlke
July 4, 1929 - January 11, 2005
Obituary
Bette R. Dahlke, born July 4, 1929 in New Underwood, SD, died January 11, 2005 in Seattle, WA. Bette was preceded in death by her parents, 2 brothers, 3 sisters & one grandson. She is survived by her husband, Donald Dahlke, her sons Robert & Dale Geigle; daughters, Glenda Shattuck, Pamela Fike and Paula Schnebly; her sisters, Pauline Reaves and Sandra Piper and her brother, John Perovich. Bette was blessed with 9 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren. Inurnment at a later date at BONNEY-WATSON Washington Memorial, 16445 International Blvd., SeaTac, WA 206 242-1787.
One month has passed and it feels like yesterday. We all knew mom in different ways. We all have our own memories that won’t be forgotten.
She always reminded me that character matters If you know my brother and sisters, you’ll understand why she harped on me all the time! HA! Just kidding, When I talked to her about some business meeting I was nerves about she would say,”Be yourself and you’ll be fine”. And I usually was.
We could all write a book filled with memories of mom. Mine would be titled, “Where’s my God Damn Teeth?”
I found a poem that reminds me of mom. I wish I wrote it.
“What Will Matter” by Michael Josephson
Ready or not, some day it will all come to an end.
There will be no more sunrises, no minutes, hours or days.
All the things you collected, whether treasured or forgotten, will pass to someone else.
Your wealth, fame and temporal power will shrival to irrelevance.
It will not matter what you owned or what you owed.
Your grudges, resentments, frustrations and jealousies will finally disappear.
So too, your hopes, ambitions, plans and to-do list will expire.
The wins and losses that once seemed so important will fade away.
It won’t matter where you came from or what side of the tracks you lived on at he end.
It won’t matter whether you were beautiful or brillant.
Even your gender and skin color will be irrelevant.
So what will matter? How will the value of your days be measured?
What will matter is not what you bought but what you built, not what you got but what you gave.
What will matter is not your success but your significance.
What will matter is not what you learned but what you taught.
What will matter is every act of integrity, compassion, courage or sacrifice that enriched, empowered or encouraged others to emulate your example.
What will matter is not your competence but your character.
What will matter is not how many people you knew, but how many will feel a lasting loss when you’re gone.
What will matter is not your memories but the memories of those who loved you.
What will matter is how long you will be remembered, by whom and for what.
Living a life that matters doesn’t happen by accident.
It’s not a matter of circumstance but of choice.
Choose to live a life that matters.
My mom mattered to alot of people, not just her family.
I miss her.
I love my mother with all of my heart. I will miss her terribly. She didn’t want a lot of tears, so I promised her that I wouldn’t grieve too long, that I would enjoy my time on this earth. Thank you, Mom for all of the love you gave to me, to Lee and my children.
You never think that your parents will go away so that you won’t have to miss them. Reality says otherwise. It will be a strange time adjusting to this fact. I am hoping that what she truly felt was blessings from her family and friends throughout her life.
I will always love Bette. By her actions she constantly shared her love with family and friends. When I miss my love ones who have passed before me I find the peace of God that his word and promises are true. He loves his children so much that he died for us on the cross and then the real neat thing is he arose form the dead three days later. So having these examples from both Bette and Jesus. I look forward to being together again with Bette and all of the rest of our love ones. Love you all.
Bette was the best of friends and sister-in-law
We will miss Bette very much, she was a big part of our lives for many years and we loved her like a family member. Our deepest sympathy to all of her family.
Our condolences to Bette’s family. Bette was one of a kind and will be missed. Memories will always linger on . . . getting seasick on a drydocked ship . . . partying . . . having a “fire-cracker” birthday . . . and being kind to everyone and always having a smile on her face.