Betty Wright Pearson
February 6, 1922 - March 4, 2019
Obituary
Betty Wright Pearson
Betty Wright Pearson was born in Newport, Washington, February 6, 1922; she died at home on March 4, 2019, in
Seattle, at age 97 after 11 months in Hospice care.
Betty grew up in eastern Washington and Montana with five brothers and sisters. She married Thomas Clark Sullivan in 1939 in Thompson Falls, Montana; they moved to Seattle in 1941. Betty was widowed in Wallingford, Seattle, in 1968. She is survived by her husband of 45 years, Richard G. Pearson; three children, Shannon Jackson (Jack) of Seattle, Timothy Sullivan (Kristina) of Mount Vernon, Ohio, and Anna Sullivan of Lacey, Washington; grandchildren Elliot Jackson (Pamela) of Sedro-Woolley, Washington, and Stephanie Rainwater of Vashon Island, Washington; great-grandchildren Rachael and Henry Jackson of Sedro-Woolley and Madeleine Rainwater of Vashon Island; and by many nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews.
Betty married Richard Pearson (“Dick”) in Honolulu, Hawaii, in 1973, beginning a long and happy romance. He helped her with good humor and love to finish raising her children, sharing his many practical skills and talents with them. She enjoyed road trips with Dick in their fifth wheel recreational vehicle; fishing trips to various water spots in the Seattle area; travel to Hawaii and Mexico; and family reunions of the Sullivan, Wright, and Pearson clans. Betty worked for several years at J.C. Penney, and as an office assistant for Norman Murphy, M.D., a Seattle pediatrician. She worked for, and retired from, the Seattle Police Department. She was a gifted cultivator of roses, loved dancing and Mexican foods, and closely followed political news. She was for a time a volunteer for the League of Women Voters, and always believed strongly in women’s rights. In her last years she was supported with devotion, patience, and generosity by her husband at home in West Seattle. Her family and longtime friends will miss her sense of humor and sharp observations on public events and family ones too.
Betty’s family thanks the wonderful caregivers of Hospice, and especially Millie Zender, for their kindness and devotion.
To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
