96
Pacific Grove
Betty Kier died on February 1at the age of 96. She was born in Seattle, Washington to Carl and Pearl Troxel and grew up in nearby Everett. While attending Everett High School, she played trumpet in the marching band and French horn in the orchestra.
In 1946, Betty enrolled at the University of Puget Sound, in Tacoma, to major in music and business. She became a member of Delta Alpha Gamma Sorority and sang with the Adelphian Choir. Betty remained in Tacoma, following college, and worked in retail. She managed the record department in a large music store.
In the spring of 1955, Betty met Sam Kier, ayoung soldier stationed at Ft. Lewis. She and Sam married in October of that year. Their first child, Teri, arrived in 1956 on the day that Sam got out of the army.
The Kier family moved to Sacramento County where Sam began graduate study in psychology and taught in the public schools. Betty gave birth to a second girl, Cindy, in July, 1957. A third daughter, Becky, joined the family in 1961.
Betty and Sam moved to Pacific Grove in 1962 when Sam was offered a job as a school psychologist with the Monterey Peninsula Unified School District. Their fourth daughter, Andrea, arrived in 1964.
Once all of her children were in school, Betty took a job as a customer service representative in a State Farm Insurance office in Pacific Grove. She retired from that position in 2011.
Following retirement, Betty enjoyed traveling throughout the United States, Canada, Central America and Western Europe. She was especially delighted to visit England and Switzerland; her ancestral countries.
Betty loved sewing, jigsaw puzzles and the San Francisco 49ers. She didn’t love camping in the Sierras as much as her husband and children did but she was a good sport and used her strong organizational skills to see that everyone and all of their belongings got there and back. Betty’s wry sense of humor will be missed at family gatherings.
She is survived by her husband Sam, daughters Teri, Cindy, Becky and Andi, four sons-in-law, seven grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
Betty was a member of the First United Methodist Church of Pacific Grove for 61 years. During much of that time she sang in the choir and served as choir librarian.
A celebration of her life will take place at the church on Saturday, March 1 at 1:00 PM.