Mary Fletcher

Mary Elizabeth "Betty" Fletcher died on Saturday, Sept. 20, 2008 at St. Michael's Nursing Home in Sauk Centre, Minnesota.

Memorial Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday, September 24 at St. Paul's Catholic Church in Sauk Centre. Rev. Todd Schneider and Rev. Stephen O'Gara will concelebrate.

Friends may call from 10 to 11 a.m. Wednesday at the church.

Betty was born September 27, 1917 in Garretson, South Dakota, to Charles "Todd" and Alice Kent, who soon moved to Huron, South Dakota, to live with Betty's grandparents, Jack and Margaret Stiver. She had a happy childhood and was always fond of her pioneering hometown roots. Betty graduated valedictorian of her class from Huron High School in 1935, attended Huron College for two years, and then left home to finish her B.A. degree at the University of Iowa, graduating Phi Beta Kappa in 1939. At UI she was an active member of the Chi Omega sorority and of an honorary sorority for French majors. She taught French in Watertown, South Dakota, for two years; in 1941 she took the train to Washington, D.C., to marry the love of her life, Robert "Bud" Fletcher, whom she had met in college. During Bud's career with the FBI, the couple lived in D.C., Springfield, Illinois, Chicago, Philadelphia, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and Saint Paul, Minnesota, before settling for 51 years in Morningside, a suburb of Minneapolis that eventually became part of Edina. She was a member of St. Thomas the Apostle Church, Minneapolis. Betty taught in the St. Louis Park and Edina school systems for 17 years. After retiring in 1979, the Fletchers wintered in Sun City, Arizona, for many years. In 2005, they moved to Sauk Centre.

Betty is survived by Bud, her husband of 67 years; daughters, Jean Fletcher and Linda Simpkins (Dave) of Sauk Centre; son, Kent Fletcher of Lafayette, Indiana; and sister, Jean Wilkinson of Pierre, South Dakota.

She was preceded in death by parents and by brother-in-law Ralph Wilkinson.