Betty Jean Schultz

Betty Jean Dickson was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on December 15, 1925 to Oscar and Bessie (Floyd) Dickson. She was a healthy baby with brown hair and green eyes and had one older brother Robert. Oscar and Bessie were first generation Americans whose ancestors emigrated to the United States from Sweden and Germany, respectively, at the turn of the century. After living for a short time in Duluth, the Dickson’s made their permanent home in Pine City, where Oscar served as Pine County Treasurer for many years. Bessie was a full-time homemaker. Her parents encouraged Betty and her brother to obtain a good education, to “make music” and to regularly practice their faith. Betty had a special relationship with her Swedish grandmother Josephina Dickson, who traded with local Indian tribes and told her old folk tales about the fairies that lived in the woods. Betty loved animals and had many pets during her childhood, most often stray dogs and cats needing a good home, a foreshadowing of the several Siamese cats and one unforgettable spider monkey she would have in her adult years. Betty was a vivacious, talkative little girl who turned around in her school desk so often to talk to her classmates she became known as “turn-around Betty”! Her friendliness and positive outlook toward life fostered many friendships. She was involved in several extra-curricular activities, including singing in the Glee Club and playing the xylophone in the marching band and has enjoyed the camaraderie of making music with others throughout her life. She and her brother experienced little of the sibling rivalry common in so many others; Betty was especially proud of her brother’s graduation from the University of Minnesota from the School of Pharmacy. On October 11, 1941 Betty met Raymond Schultz, at a dance at the Topic Ballroom in Pine City. Ray was very nervous about asking her to dance, but her cheery disposition and talkativeness soon put him at ease. This began a four-year courtship, mostly through the mail, because Ray went into the U. S. Army on February 5, 1942, where he served as a ground instructor for pilots. Betty graduated from Pine City High School in 1943 and shortly after moved to Minneapolis where she worked as a waitress at the Hasty Tasty Café. Betty became engaged to Ray Schultz during the summer of 1944. “I Don’t Want to Set the World on Fire” was their special song. Betty married Ray at Zion Lutheran Church in Pine City, Minnesota on April 15, 1945 and they moved to Madison, Wisconsin where Ray was stationed. When the war ended, they settled in Minneapolis in a small apartment near Loring Park. Ray worked for a glass manufacturer and Betty worked as a waitress at the elegant Dayton’s Tea Room and later, the Sky Room Restaurant. As their family grew with the birth of daughter Linda Rae in 1948 and their second daughter Carol Jane in 1950, Betty temporarily “retired” from working outside of the home. The family moved back to Pine City and in with Betty’s parents after Ray was involved in a serious car accident in 1950 and hospitalized for 17 months. They purchased their own home in Pine City in 1953, and their family grew to include a third daughter, Deanna Gaye, born in1955. Early childhood development and education was a life-long interest of Betty’s and extended to children and families beyond her own. She taught Sunday School and directed the children’s choir at Zion Lutheran Church for many years. Her crowning achievement was the co-founding of the first nursery school in Pine City in 1973. Betty also worked for the Head Start Program, initially as a teacher/instructor and then as a volunteer in her retirement years. Betty, along with her husband Ray, was an early supporter of mental health programs and involved in the founding of the first Pine County chapter of the Alliance for the Mentally Ill. She served as Secretary-Treasurer of the organization for several years, befriended many people who were suffering and organized numerous educational programs to help families cope with a loved one’s illness. Betty was active in the Pine City Community Center’s Senior Citizens Choir for many years and was an enthusiastic supporter of the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis. Travels included the East Coast, as well as Arizona, California and Mexico. Betty took great pride in the achievements and passions of her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Betty was a resident of Gracepointe Crossing West nursing home in Cambridge, Minnesota for the last 12 years, where she never lost her zest for life. She was preceded in death by her parents, brother and spouse. She is survived by daughters: Linda (Bruce) Henning of Minneapolis, Carol (Dick Jenkins) Schultz of Duluth and Deanna Schultz of Pine City; grandchildren: Nicholas (Maria Scremin) Henning of Los Angeles; Taylor Henning of Minneapolis, Katharine Henning of New York, and Alexander Kotchen of Pine City; and great-grandchildren: Joaquin and Aimara Henning. Daughter Carol’s husband Dick Jenkins has five children, 15 grandchildren, and two great grandchild who further completed the circle of Betty’s family life. She was beloved. Services are scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Saturday October 19th @ Zion Lutheran Church, Pine City with Reverend Glen Kleppe officiating. Interment will be in Birchwood Cemetery. Visitation will be from 5:00 until 7:00 p.m. Friday at Swanson Funeral Chapel and 1 hour prior to the service at the church on Saturday. Arrangements are with the Swanson Funeral Chapel of Pine City.