In Memory

Betty Ann Hills (Reed) VIEW PROFILE

     Betty Ann Hills attended Moorestown schools from the sixth grade through graduation.  She was an excellent student,  Spanish was her forte.   She received her B.S. degree from  Douglass College.  Her fluency in Spanish greatly aided her in her social work position in North Jersey and later in her law career.   In 1968 she and her husband moved to Modesto, California where they had a daughter, Marla and a son, Edward. 

     Betty Ann had a passion for women's rights and set her mind on being a lawyer.  Without going to law school, she studied and passed the California bar exam on her first try!  She practiced law for over twenty-five years in the Central Valley of California where she was active in the Women's Bar Association of Stanislaus County.  She was a special advocate for women and children.  After she had officially retired from her practice she was actively helping teenagers who had aged- out of the foster care system.

     Another of Betty Ann's passions was bird watching.  She traveled across the United States and Canada with her sister, Linda, and a friend, adding to her life list of over 500 North American birds.  She loved to read and drive through the California countryside.  She was a wonderfully caring daughter to her parents who lived in Modesto for many years.

     In the fall of 2007 Betty Ann was diagnosed with advanced cancer.  She died in Illinois at the home of her daughter, son-in-law and three grandchildren on Dec. 21, 2007.  Her son and his wife live in Sacramento, Ca., brother, Bob (MHS 1962) lives in Fresno, Ca., Linda, (MHS 1959) lives in Chula Vista, Ca. and Mr. and Mrs. Hills now live in Chula Vista also.

     I have many wonderful memories of Betty Ann.  We were friends from the day we met on our street a month before sixth grade.  She became a part  of my family, and I hers.  She challenged me to be a better student, and I encouraged her to relax and have some fun.  We nurtured our friendship after high school.  I was in her wedding, and she in mine.   We met each other's babies.  She toured me around her beautiful California.  When we moved to California I was able to be a part of her daughter's wedding celebration, and she and Mrs. Hills were a part of my Lauren's.  I got to see her law office and hear of the respect with which she was held in her community. 

      Betty Ann lived life well.   She is greatly missed by her family, friends and many whose lives she enriched with her intelligence and caring spirit.  May God bless you, sweet friend.

Submitted by Sandy Morrow Pinnel

 



 
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04/11/11 02:48 PM #1    

Susan C. Kavanaugh (Nagy)

 

I want to thank Sandy for writing such a lovely memorial to honor Betty Ann. Betty Ann and I also stayed in touch, mostly through Christmas cards, but we did get together twice—once for a long Girls’ Weekend at Sandy’s house in San Jose, and again at Lauren’s wedding. Both times, it was like we’d never been apart—just a comfortable camaraderie and a chance to truly catch up.
 
One of my fondest high school memories of Betty Ann (it makes me smile to this day) was when she won the Betty Crocker Homemaker of the Year Award our senior year. To appreciate this, you have to know just how much becoming a Domestic Goddess was NOT on her To-Do list! However, the award was coveted for college application purposes and was the result of a competitive test taken by all the girls—a test intentionally designed to be much too long for the time allotted so that no one could finish it. Apparently, Betty Ann was the only one of us to discern the subtle pattern in the multiple choice answers that favored option (d). As she told me afterward, since there was no penalty for wrong answers, about a minute before the end of the time period she simply filled in all the remaining (d)s to the end of the test. When they announced that she’d won the award at graduation, I nearly fell out of my chair laughing, even as I tipped my hat to the smarty-pants she was. 
 
As Sandy so warmly described, Betty Ann showed the world her sharp mind and caring heart throughout her life. Truly, it was my pleasure to have known her and been considered her friend.
 
Submitted by Susan Kavanaugh Nagy

08/08/11 08:18 PM #2    

Carolyn S. Kelley (Kosdemba)

    I, too, have wonderful memories of Betty Ann.  Being new to Moorestown and a freshman at MHS, I met Betty Ann in home room.  She seemed to know right away that I needed a friend.  She helped me with my locker, and had me to her house to play basketball in her backyard.  She seemed to be terrific at anything she chose to do.  She included me in her group at Teen Haven or I probably would not have gone. 

 

She loved Spanish class and conversing in Spanish with Sue Kavanaugh and others.  One day she said she did nothing but speak Spanish all day long and she was so happy.  From Sandy’s beautiful Memorial,  I see she got to use the language and her talent for thoughtful assistance to people who she deemed  needed it most.  Her generosity was boundless.

 

Betty Ann  stayed in touch with me, was so supportive,  and included pictures of her stunning family in letters and cards.   For the Nutshell I had voted her the most likely to succeed, so when she completed law school by correspondence courses, I was amazed, but not surprised.  

 

In her letters she spoke of her love of the Spanish culture and loved living in Modesto, Ca.  Her parents and sisters and their families seemed to live close enough to watch out for one another.  She spoke so highly of the area, the birds, and her many trips to the California countryside that I longed to visit her there.  In August 2007 I did have a chance to visit with her at her lovely home in Modesto.  She was beautiful, as always,  with very white hair.  Her voice still resonated strength and conviction as she spoke about her observations of the state of her surroundings with exceptional precision.   She mentioned a local newspaper that she had just stopped taking because of inaccuracies she could not tolerate and told them so.  

 

My friend, Bill Sheppard, who made my trip possible, enjoyed our visit with Betty Ann, often referring to her as the “Bright Light”.  The fact that she was not feeling very strong did not alter her ability to converse with extraordinary intelligence, and we  thoroughly enjoyed our all-too-short visit.

 

Although she had said she was very weak, she did not know what was wrong with her.  Shortly after I returned home, a great sadness washed over me when she made a very brief call to tell me of her plans to not fight her newly diagnosed and very advanced cancer.  My father had died two years prior of prolonged agony from cancer and it upset me to think of Betty Ann suffering from anything for an extended period of time.   Feeling that she was the best one to make her own life decisions, I told her I loved her and thought that her daughter, Marla, would not want it any other way  than to have her beloved mother  stay with her family in Illinois. 

 

I have always felt so blessed and honored to have had Betty Ann include me as a friend in her life.   She was wonderful and brave and I miss her.

 

Submitted by Carolyn Kelley Kosdemba

 

 


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