Betty Joyce Knoche

Betty Knoche of Gig Harbor, Washington died Sunday, July 20th , following a long and happy life. While we will all miss our “Bad Betty,” we are comforted in the knowledge she is again well bodied and golfing to her heart’s content from heavenly tees! She brought joy to those who knew her and her mischievous streak often left you guessing what she would say or do next! Knowing that, the remainder of this notice is being written to match her personality and wit! 

Betty was born in Monroe, Washington, part of a large, extended, and competitive family who loved playing games – dice, cards (especially 3 –13), dominos and board games. Her competitive nature kept her playing games up until the last weeks of her life. And she was not afraid to let you know how she felt, including hand gestures, if you managed to go out before she was ready!

She was the oldest of four girls, Wanda (Birdie), Judy, and Gloria, whom she named the “Zerger Burger Sisters” at one of our yearly family reunions at Lake Cushman by making each one of them a blinged up sweatshirt with hamburgers on them. Harvested clams, oysters, and geoducks always made the menu around the campfire at those reunions!

Betty was quite a looker all her life and at 17, in 1949, she married Kennedy Schulze and had two daughters, Linda “Lee” and Sue in short order. In 1955 she found herself a widow. She sold the farm, moved into town (Olympia), bought a house, and became a switchboard operator at the capitol building. A girlfriend invited her to a party with some of those “wild boys” from Fort Lewis, and the rest, as they say, is history. It was the beginning of a life this farm girl said she could have never imagined!

Travels began from coast to coast and then some – Virginia, Texas (Beaumont and El Paso where son Richard was born), Okinawa (where youngest Trina was born), Montana, Michigan, and Illinois. Her mischievous nature would appear from time to time. As a surprise for Dick, she sewed the fly closed of Dick’s underwear and pajamas before she packed them for his training in Philadelphia which lasted several weeks. His roommates enjoyed the joke as much, if not more, than he did!

Their final military move brought them closer to home in Vancouver, Washington, where Dick began his second career with Farmers Insurance. In addition to golf which she and Dick took up in Okinawa, Square Dance and bowling became life long passions. Square Dancing had them dosey doeing on many road trips all around the country, always in matching outfits she designed and sewed for the two of them. Events with Farmers tookt hem to places and experiences she had never dreamed of – hot air ballooning in California, golfing all over the country, and Farmer’s 75th Jubilee. They often joined Sue and her husband, Dean, to auto racing events all over the country.

While Betty thought she had made her final move after all those years in the military, Farmers made Dick an offer he could not refuse. However, a discussion with her before accepting would have been a good idea! The move was made to Oak Harbor, Washington, but Bad Betty made it very clear if he decided to move again, it would be by himself!!

Their time in Oak Harbor was filled with golf, food, and fun with their good friends at the Oak Harbor Golf and Country Club. Her skills as a golfer brought her many awards and championships, including a hole-in-one at a course in Banff, Alberta, Canada.

Her love of birds, especially hummingbirds and California quail, was apparent based on the numerous bird feeders which surrounded their home!

Following the death of her husband, Dick in 2012, she moved to Great Falls, Montana to live with her youngest daughter, Trina, also a Farmers agent, and son-in-law Jeff. Her days of golf continued as a three-some. One of the memorable “Bad Betty” pranks occurred shortly after she moved to Great Falls when she was left to go to her hair appointment without the assistance of Trina. Betty convinced the stylist who was cutting her hair toplay along and ask Trina why Mom had failed to show up for her appointment. Trina’s immediately panicked, assuming Mom had gotten lost on the way to her appointment. Her siblings were going to kill her for losing their Mom! Score a good one for Mom, though she did get an earful from Trina!! And when Mom’s bird feeders brought in flickers who pecked a hole in the side of Trina’s house, she was downsized to just hummingbird feeders!

As fate would have it, there was one more move in store for our “Bad Betty’. Trina changed positions within Farmers and purchased an agency in Port Orchard, Washington. That move brought them all back home to the Pacific Northwest.

Throughout her years, “Bad Betty” was known as warm, fun-loving, and accepting to all! We thought Dad was the only one who would strike up a conversation with anyone, but we were wrong! For Mom, there were no strangers, and everyone was welcome at the table where Betty’s Baked Beans and cheese fondue were often requested. She was an avid crocheter, teaching the next generation and anyone who was interested, how to crochet. In her lifetime she created hundreds of afghans, hot pads, baby blankets, bibs, and booties for friends and family. Every day at 5 o’clock, out would come the wine or gin and tonic or her famous Lemon Drop Martini’s. She was the queen of bling, her fashion sense never left her - her outfit had to match, including the shoes - she had many pairs to choose from! In fact, when she was told she would have to be transferred by aid car following her most recent fall, she made sure she looked good, and her teeth were in because those medics are always cute!

Some of the Bad Betty-isms remembered by her grandchildren include: When asked - what is your secret for a long life? Her response was - Pickle yourself with alcohol.

When told – Grandma, you can’t do that! Her reply was - Who is going to stop me?

Betty was preceded in death by all of her siblings and their spouses, her parents, and grandparents. She leaves behind children Linda Lee Schroder (Ken), Sue Bohne (Dean), Richard (Di) Knoche, and Trina Knoche (Jeff Linabary), 9 grandchildren, 6 great grandchildren, and 4 great, great grandchildren, along with numerous nieces and nephews and their families. In lieu of flowers, we ask that you consider making a donation in her name to your favorite charity or a charity that supports youth golf. 

Information regarding a future celebration of life will be shared with friends and family members.