Thanks Karen and Beret and Jane for sharing this news. John and I remember Betty and Burt as Guardian colleagues in the Chicago Region when we were in 5th City a 2nd time… around Town Meeting days. I was newly assigned
to the finance office replacing a very competent Claire Whitney and Betty came in once a week to assist me. She was very familiar with bookkeeping for non-profits.
I remember one of their younger sons was in my Ecclesiola one summer program in the Kemper Building. So thankful that Beret and Paul will be able to attend the memorial for this dear woman. Please convey my condolences to him.
One of the memories that stand out for me is the prolific writing that Burt and Betty did about community building matters, drawing upon their wide experience in other parts of the world. They were one of the early publishers in our community.
Check out their book Neighborhood Caretaker Stories in the Archives. I do not remember that I ever heard of Betty being a missionary kid from India, so was delighted for that connection from the article below. Now that I am in my 80’s, I am recalling
all the writing they did about Elder Care and the training they proposed for educating young people to be Certified Nursing Assistants, in something like a Training Inc. program.
Betty was one of the ones who began pushing environmental concerns into our work. Through a newsletter that she edited, (something like North American Alliance for…. NAA...), we were early introduced to the work of Jim Berry, brother to
Thomas Berry and Margaret Berry with whom we became very familiar when we moved to Greensboro. Betty and Burt were generous contributors to our work in 5th City and as far as I know throughout the years. I enjoyed an occasional phone visit with
her on various financial campaigns. I especially appreciated her reporting about her presence at Thomas Berry’s Riverside Church memorial.
We celebrate the life and service of both Burt and Betty Dyson, colleagues on the way. Indeed an amazing couple.
With gratitude, Lynda and John Cock