After a summer of fun and a showering of love by family and friends, Betty Sue Tunison, 89, of Spokane Valley, Washington, passed away on November 7, 2024 from ovarian cancer. Betty loved the Lord. And she loved people deeply - with her whole heart and you felt it! She prayed for those she loved and you felt that too. She is preceded in death by her husband of 64 years, John Tunison, her older brother, Orville Lee Hill, Jr. and younger sister, Jo Ann Wagner.
Betty, born September 15, 1935, in Avondale, Missouri, grew up with her family within a short walk from her grandparents and great-grandparents. She shared fun childhood memories, such as visiting the bean packing factory where her grandfather worked and experiencing the thrill of sliding down the six-story bean bag chute. They attended the Avondale Gospel Center, which is likely where Betty was baptized.
When Betty was nine the family moved west to Washington State, living in Richland and then Benton City. During her school years, Betty made many lifelong friends, some of whom she was able to visit with this past summer. Betty and her high school sweetheart, John (Jack), married shortly after her graduation. She called John her knight in shining armor when she bravely presented his eulogy five years ago. She was a devoted wife, yet she certainly knew how to stand her ground. John often commented how he won all the battles and Betty Sue won all the wars.
While John attended college and in the early years of their marriage Betty worked in banking. A tragic car accident in 1960 claimed the lives of Betty's mother and other family members - a devastating loss. However, over the years, Betty grew close to Jack's mother, Ida Tunison. Ida was very present in the lives of her granddaughters, and it was she who initiated the tradition of family dinners. This tradition has continued through the generations, creating countless cherished memories (and pictures!) of the family eating together.
Betty was a charming woman who effortlessly combined grace, a playful spirit, a sense of adventure, a tireless work ethic, and above all, a genuine love for people. After her three girls were born, she embraced motherhood and homemaking. During the girls’ school years, she could just as likely be found teaching charm school classes to high school girls at Valley Alliance Church or speaking at Christian Women’s Club, as picking up a scrub brush and working with her girls to clean someone’s house—helping out the residents and, at the same time, teaching her girls the value of hard work. She received multiple citizenship awards but later in life, she was also the one who loved a clear winter day so much she could successfully entice a granddaughter to skip school and go skiing!
She truly loved being outside, especially with others, whether it was camping, backpacking, skiing, which she started in her 50’s, Bloomsday, which she ran/walked until she was 85, or picking up pinecones in the yard. She brought an air of lightness to every task: preparing for, setting up, packing up, cleaning up - in everything, not just outdoor activities. She had a way of making work fun, but it also had to be done right. The checkbook wasn’t balanced until it was balanced to the penny. A campsite wasn’t clean until you left it cleaner than when you arrived.
Betty's favorite activities were water-related. If it involved getting in a river, lake, hot spring, ocean, pool or even sprinkler or hose she loved it! Her favorite camping place, shared with many friends and family, and where she and John spent many a month backpacking, is high in the Bitterroot mountains along the Montana-Idaho border. She loved swimming there in the cold, snowmelt-fed lakes calling it, “refreshing!” She passed down her mother’s advice on traveling: “Always take a winter coat AND a swimming suit."
Betty's adventurous spirit and love for others led her on many trips with family and friends where the events of life were celebrated. She experienced the beauty of Alaska with John. She volunteered with Jo Ann for Habitat for Humanity and Redeemer Lutheran Church in Guatemala, Belize, Ireland, and also with John in Mexico. During this time, she also worked as a hostess at Holman Gardens, cherishing her interactions with residents and with the young servers whom she loved and who loved her right back.
Betty's genuine interest in others made people feel seen and valued, a quality that shone through to the children at Redeemer Lutheran’s Vacation Bible School where she volunteered nearly every summer for the past 30 years, including the final summer of her life. Betty lived in the same house since 1969 and has known so many of the families and children in the neighborhood. Just this past summer, neighbor kids would stop by to visit her and she would give them marshmallows. She was also good friends with several neighbors whom she had known for decades. They would get together and drink coffee, talk politics, and watch Gonzaga basketball games. These neighbors watched out for each other and were a special blessing for the kindness, care, and close friendship they showered on Betty after John passed away.
Of course, Betty faced challenges but her life was full and her impact was profound. She is survived by her younger brother Don Hill (Suzanne), her three daughters Kathie Leighton (Louise), Patty Young (Eric), Jackie Rennich (Tom), her grandchildren Savannah, Josselyn, Hank (Lea), JP (Gretchen), Jimmy (Kelsey), Sarafael (Lazar), and Tommy, her nieces and nephew, her good friend Lou Hopp who was like an adopted daughter, her daughter’s and grandchildren’s ex-spouses and their new families because once you are in Betty’s circle of love you are never out, and so many others who experienced her extraordinary loving care.
We will celebrate Betty’s life at Redeemer Lutheran Church, 3606 Schafer Rd. Spokane Valley, WA 99206 on Saturday, January 18th, 2025 at 11:00 am. Donations in Betty’s honor can be made to Redeemer Lutheran Church’s Vacation Bible School.
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