Betty Rowe Christensen

Betty Rowe Christensen passed away peacefully on July 15th, 2021, at the age of 90, in Bountiful, Utah. Betty was born on January 29, 1931, in Butte, Montana, to Matthew Pratt Rowe and Lanor Rachel Hailstone Rowe. She was the oldest of three children. Betty grew up in several cities, including Butte, Montana; Little Rock, Arkansas; and Sweetwater, Texas. Starting at the age of 16, she attended Brigham Young University and earned a B.S. degree in Education. She taught school for more than 25 years, starting with Special Education. She then taught elementary school in the Davis County School District for the remainder of her career, with most of those years teaching 1st grade.

Betty married Jay Van Christensen on February 13, 1953, was blessed with four wonderful children, two sons and two daughters. Betty and Jay divorced in 1968. A single parent for the rest of her life, she devoted her life and love to her children and rejoiced in their lives and families.

Betty is remembered for many things that will live on in the hearts and lives of her children. She had a smile that brightened the room, an infectious giggle, and was always quick to laugh, even as a 90-year-old. She was loved by many, inside and outside the family.

She was a devoted member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and served in numerous Ward and Stake callings. She served in the Bountiful Temple 2-3 times a week, from the day it opened until 24 years later, often working for eight hours or more on her shifts even into her late-eighties.

She served everyone around her in quiet ways. She invited numerous elderly single sisters to accompany her on annual trips to Hawaii. She would spend a week as a “tour guide” and loved to share the beauties of the islands with elderly sisters who had never traveled to Hawaii.

She was a faithful ministering sister to those around her, including quietly paying the full cost of funeral services of someone she ministered to. For all her years up to age 89, when she traveled to visit family she always insisted on helping, by sweeping, cleaning and organizing the kitchen or assisting with other home improvement tasks. She lived at Legacy House of Bountiful during the last 18 months. Every time she went to dinner at Legacy, she asked to be seated next to someone who was alone.

She was an example of frugality and someone who always lived well within her humble means. She drove modest cars, saved half of every napkin for future use, washed plasticware by hand to reuse, and lived by the motto “use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without” her entire life.

Betty is survived by her eternally grateful and appreciative children and family: by two sons Jay (Julie) Christensen, Perry (Susan) Christensen; by her two daughters, Wendy (Kurt) Harrison and Terri (Troy) Adams; her siblings Robert (Luanna) Rowe and Kathy (Lenard) Wright, and 21 grandchildren and 45+ great-grandchildren.
Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m., Tuesday, July 27, 2021 at the Bountiful 26th Ward, 200 North 200 West, Bountiful. A viewing will be held Monday evening from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. at Russon Mortuary, 295 North Main, Bountiful and Tuesday morning 9:30-10:30 a.m. at the church prior to services. Interment-Lakeview Cemetery.