Betty Louise Franklin
Betty left us way too soon as the result of a lingering illness. She was born to Marga and Alfred Franklin at St. Francis Hospital in Santa Barbara. Betty and her twin sister Barbara were born an hour apart; hence, Betty always referred to Barbara as her older sister.
The family resided in Carpinteria, where Betty grew up through the Carpinteria public school system, graduating from Carpinteria High School with the class of 1971. Betty was also a graduate of the school of hard knocks, as life wasn’t always easy. Her mother passed away when Betty was just 6 years old. Her father tried hard to keep the family together, but earning a living and raising a family proved difficult and he arranged to have the twins live with and be raised by Marga’s best friend, Betty Taylor, and her husband, Al, who also resided in Carpinteria.
Betty tried marriage twice, but it didn’t agree with her. The first was to her high school beau, Mac Brown, then later to Scott McLeod. Although both marriages ended in divorce, Betty became good friends with both.
In her professional life, Betty worked at Cate School, then enjoyed a career in corporate marketing. She was employed by QAD in Summerland, then recruited by Meta Creations in Carpinteria. When Meta moved out of state, Betty decided she needed to spread her wings as well and moved to Basel, Switzerland, where she lived for several years. While there, she worked with a large pharmaceutical firm as their English language marketing representative. She quickly learned to speak both German and French, mostly self-taught. Ultimately, Betty could converse in five languages. When she returned from abroad, she continued her career with the European pharmaceutical firm on a contractual basis and also contracted with local firms in the tourist industry.
She had purchased a home in Summerland just prior to her European adventure and eagerly moved back when she returned. She identified with Summerland and became involved in the Summerland Citizens Association and Summerland Beautiful. She also volunteered for Girls, Inc. of Carpinteria and was elected to the Board of Directors of the Summerland Sanitary District on which she served for several years. She dearly loved her Summerland home and resided there until shortly before her passing.
Betty is survived by her sisters Cathy Closson (Rick) and Lea Ojeda, brother John, and many loving and loved nieces and nephews. She was preceded in this journey by her parents, brother Mike, sisters Linda and Barbara, and niece Michelle. Sadly, when her twin Barbara passed, a part of Betty left us as well. Although not blessed with children of her own, Betty was a fun and loving aunt to her many nieces and nephews.
Many years ago her niece Michelle wrote:
Think of a daisy, what do you see? I see gardens & children, innocence &
dreams. I see worriless nights & carefree days. I see love & comfort & young & foolish games. I wish you a daisy!
Indeed, Betty was our daisy!
In her passing, Betty gave to Hospice of Santa Barbara and the Carpinteria Library. Those wishing to remember Betty are asked to do the same in her name.
An informal, mostly family gathering to spread her ashes has yet to be scheduled.
