Marilyn Joan (Walker) Betz (Julie)
September 30, 1929 - March 6, 2025
Marilyn Joan (Walker) Betz (Julie) Obituary
Let us start with her name. She never used Marilyn—she was always known as "Joanne." Her mother was an inventive speller.
Joan was born in Mansfield, Ohio to a labor organizer and she carried her political left-of-center views with her proudly for 95 years. On the day she entered hospice, she was confused about many things yet was able to comment on the economy (I'm so happy that unemployment seems down) and politics (not so happy).
Joan was always the smartest, most organized person in the room. Yet she grew up in a time and place that did not easily recognize her abilities. She worked as a secretary, then as an office manager for a tiny outpost of a pipeline company, Ashland Oil. The company would send young engineers to spend time with Joan to be trained in company protocols. Ashland Oil became Valvoline and one of the no-longer-young engineers was named CEO. At the age of 52, she was offered the post of his Chief of Staff and moved to Houston. She loved it and loved every day she got to ride the elevator up to the C-Suite. She spent the last 7 years of her career managing the personal affairs of the CEO including a multi-million-dollar farm in Louisiana.
Joan retired at the age of 70 because she fell in love - with her first grandchild, Anna, and went on to expand her love to Mary and then Andre. She resettled in Kansas City and found a second wind in her family—she thought being a grandmother was pure fun, and she took great pride in how her grandchildren came into their own.
She was a study in contradictions: a lefty who worked for big oil; a woman born with traditional expectations that found her way to a corporate high-rise, a person who knew she was brilliant but often doubted herself. What was consistent was her love of her grandchildren and, in later years, a certain smugness that she had retained so much of her executive function. She mastered bridge in her eighties and read job postings daily until she was 90 when she reluctantly decided she was no longer competitive in the job market.
Preceding her is her husband of 73 years, Harold Betz, and her son, Jeffrey Martin Betz. Left are her children Steven (Julie) Betz and Julie (David) Warm and grandchildren Anna Warm (Peter Bourke), Mary Warm, and Andre Betz. She also leaves behind two former daughters-in-law, Linda Carroll and Judy Betz, a brother, Robert Walker (Bea) and numerous nieces and nephews. Thanks to the care and companionship of the gang at Bishop Spencer Place and the compassion of Kansas City Hospice and Palliative Care for helping her during this last transition.
Let us start with her name. She never used Marilyn—she was always known as "Joanne." Her mother was an inventive speller.
Joan was born in Mansfield, Ohio to a labor organizer and she carried her political left-of-center views with her proudly for 95 years. On the day she entered hospice, she was confused about many things yet was able to
Published on March 9, 2025
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