Betty Joe Fisher
Betty Joe Fisher
Betty Joe Fisher was born in Oklahoma on June 5, 1922 to
Clara Barton and Joseph Fisher, the youngest of three children.
She moved to Kansas at age 3 where she was
raised amid oil fields and wheat farms.
She attended a two-room school for 8 years and went on to receive a
teaching degree from Arkansas City Junior College (now Cowley College) in 1941.
Her first teaching job was in a one-room
school, where she taught all eight grades and did her own janitorial work and
tended a coal stove to keep herself and her 21 students warm.
During World War II, Betty Joe was deeply affected by the
loss of a good friend in combat.
In
1944, at the age of 21, she joined the Navy and served 2 years as a WAVE.
She quickly established herself as a mentor
to many of the women, who like her, were experiencing being away from home for
the first time in their lives.
Her time
there took her to New York, Oklahoma and Virginia.
After receiving her Honorable Discharge from the Navy, she
was offered a federal job in Washington D.C., but turned down the opportunity
because her first love was teaching.
In
an interview for being a distinguished Cowley alumni, Betty Joe said, “The pay
would have been great, but I have always felt that money is not my priority, I
love people!” After being discharged, she moved to Boise, buying a home in 1946.
She spent 39 years teaching at Garfield, Lowell, Hawthorne,
Whittier, Campus and Lincoln schools.
During
that time she earned her B.A. Degree from the College of Idaho and went to earn
her Master’s Degree from Boise State University in 1977.
This was accomplished alongside her full time
work, teaching summer school and attending night classes.
Her many years of service included teaching
physical education and working as a coach for bowling, Little League baseball,
women’s softball and volleyball.
She also
served as a full time counselor, taking great pride in helping out kids the
many kids that came through her programs with special needs.
Fisher, who herself suffered with hearing
impairment as a child, wrote a book on hearing entitled “The Ear Book”, “A
Handbook for Parents and Teachers To Help Identify Children With Hearing
Impairments”.
It was part of her Thesis
work, and was copyrighted in 1977.
Betty Joe retired in 1983 to care for her mother, but that
certainly didn’t slow down her investment in people and the community.
She was a Charter Member of the WAVES Nation,
a 50+ year member of the Teacher’s Honorary Society, “Delta Kappa Gamma Society
International”.
She held every office in
the Alpha Chapter and served eight years as President of the Chapter.
She is also a member of the Boise Women’s
Hall of Fame.
She was also an avid
participant in the Idaho State Fair, entering flowers and artwork every year
and bringing home many blue ribbons.
Betty Joe loved travel, good food, serving her church, and
spending time with her many friends.
She
had a special way of becoming “family” to those she took under her wing.
She will be greatly missed but leaves a
legacy of a life well lived.
She died on
Thursday morning, October 13.
Betty Joe
was preceded in death by her parents, and her sister Evelyn Mae Corn of
Boise.
She is survived by her brother,
Reed Fisher, of Nampa and her lifetime friend and roommate, Frances House.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to
Ronald McDonald House in Betty Joe’s honor or a charity of your choice.
A celebration of her life will be held at the Cathedral of
the Rockies (Boise First United Methodist) on Sunday, October 16 at 3:00
pm.
Officiating will be Rev. Ralph
Lawrence and Rev. Lisa Payton.
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Betty Joe Fisher, please visit our flower store.
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