Bette was born July 24, 1939, in Columbus, Nebraska and went to be with the Lord on February 01, 2023, in Guadalajara Mexico at the age of 83. Services will occur at a later date.
Bette Rae (Betsy when she was young) Benson was born in Columbus, NE, the oldest child of Robert C. (Bob) Benson and Leona (Pollie) Caroline Pollard, She was a junior cheerleader her Freshman year in high school, joined the band when a Sophomore, playing a tenor saxophone, placed in a singing contest at regional competition, and could have been Valedictorian or Salutatorian if she had stayed at Bancroft High. She graduated from Prairie Bible Institute High School in June of 1957.
Bette married Larry Dayle Drummond of rural Lyons, NE, on September 4, 1959 after her second year of college. Kevin Dayle was born June 2, 1960, Brian Alan was born March 2, 1962, Connie-Jo Alyce was born October 9, 1964, and Mark Warren was born June 1, 1970. In 1974 the family moved to Alliance, NE, where Larry bought a Radiator Shop business. Bette was active in the Berean Church, singing, teaching adult Bible studies, and acting as secretary for the AWANA club. She and her husband split up in 1985 and divorced in 1989. Bette moved to Denver in 1985, and after a short time doing temporary jobs, began working at RTD as a secretary. She later took a position as an Administrative Assistant in Materials Management, going on to become a Budget Analyst on the T-REX project. She took advantage of RTD’s policy of paying part of an employee’s education and graduated from Colorado Christian University (formerly Rockmont College) in 1990 with a degree in Management. She retired from RTD in July of 2005. Bette enjoyed travel very much. She has been in 34 different countries, 41 US states, and 20 Mexican states (out of 32). Immediately after retirement, she spent three months in Europe, in her words “backpacking Europe the old-lady way” meaning using a pull-along suitcase rather than a huge backpack.
Bette’s interest in Spanish began when she was a Senior at Prairie High School with a teacher who had been a missionary in Cuba. Later, while working for RTD, she took several classes in Spanish at Metro State College. In 2007 Bette took advantage of an immersion program in Spanish through Metro State College and went to study at CEPE in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, for three months where she fell in love with the city, the culture, the language, the food, the architecture, and the fact that, not far from her rented home, there was an American Society.
In August 2019, Bette was invited to live with a Mexican family from her church, Pablo and Chivas Lopez and their Jacob and Kyara, which gave her the added safety of not living alone.
Bette was a published poet and writer, both fiction and magazine articles.
Bette is survived by her brother and sister-in-law, Bob and Ree Ann Benson, her four children, Kevin and Rita Drummond, Brian and Carmen Drummond, Connie Bingham, and Mark Drummond, her grandchildren, Sherryl and James Weick, Mario Drummond, Rehena and Robert Allen, Taylor and Alex Drummond, Andrea Drummond, Brandon Bingham, Karlei Bingham, and her great-grandchildren, Ethan, Keilani, and James Weick, Aleena, Isabella, McKayla, and Samuel Allen, Lillian Remaklus, Sylvia and Evelyn Drummond, Liam and Harper Bingham.