Betty Janice Baddley was born in Willard, Utah on July 22, 1923, the eldest child of Howard Baddley (deceased 1967) and Edith Edwards Baddley (deceased 2001). She is survived by her siblings Dean Baddley (Jean, deceased 2011), Alan Baddley (Joan), and Gayl Baddley (William Flemming).
She married Gerald C. Welker (deceased 2007) in 1944 and had two sons, Craig, who drowned in Willard Bay in 1964, and Brent, who gave her two grandchildren, Matthew Craig and Edith Ann, and two great-grandchildren, Emil and Iseut Welker.
Betty grew up on the family farm in Willard, and attended Box Elder High School and Weber Jr. College where she studied English. When WWII broke out she left her job in Ogden at Fred Nye Co. and went to work at the Defense Depot in Ogden supplying our troops. Betty loved big band and swing music, and during the war years won several jitterbug contests.
Betty and Gerald resided in San Jose, CA from 1947-1960. They were divorced in 1960 and Betty and her sons moved to Salt Lake City, UT. She never remarried, but enjoyed 45 years of friendship with William "Bill" Resch, whom she met when she was an employee at Clark Leaming.
Betty was supremely stylish, and very hardworking. She worked in retail as a clothing buyer for Macy's, and at the Emporium in San Jose. In Salt Lake City she worked for Norman's Flowers, Castleton's, Clark Leaming and for several years at her brother's interior design firm Gayl Baddley and Associates. Betty finally retired in 2003, at the age of eighty years old.
Nicknamed Betty Boop, she enjoyed the finer things in life like fashion, cuisine, and collecting knickknacks, and was able to travel Europe and Asia during her lifetime. Her constant hobby was shopping, never for herself but for others. All that encountered her felt she was the epitome of class, and she attracted many friends. She was a consummate flirt.
A loving mother and a doting grandmother, and even a great aunt, she will be sorely missed but we also know that she is in a better place.
A graveside service for family and friends will be held at the Willard City Cemetery on Saturday, June 6, 2015, at 11:00 a.m. There will also be an informal viewing held for immediate family at Larkin Mortuary in downtown Salt Lake City on Friday June 5th at 1:00 p.m.
As per Betty's wishes, in lieu of flowers please donate to her granddaughter Edith Welker's Masters Degree Education Fund at www.gofundme.com/StudyEdithStudy.
