Obituary of Betty Skippen

April 21, 1941 – Frontenac County, Ontario

November 3, 2024 – Calgary, Alberta

Elizabeth (Betty) Skippen of Calgary, AB, passed away peacefully on Sunday, November 3, 2024, after a courageous two-year battle with cancer.

Betty was originally from Ontario, born in Frontenac County and raised in Kirkland Lake. After high school, she moved to Toronto, where she met Bob, the love of her life. This sparked a lifelong partnership marked by shared adventures. They were married in 1964 in Toronto.

Bob was transferred to North Bay, where they started their family. This is also where Betty joined Beta Sigma Phi, beginning a 58-year journey of service and connecting her to a network of women who became lifelong friends, enriching her life with camaraderie and purpose.

In 1979, the family moved west to Calgary, where Betty balanced her career with community involvement, and they both joined the Kinsmen and Kinettes Club of Calgary. This provided them with another social network. She was a Calgary sports fan never missing the Stampeders and had a special place in her heart for the Calgary Flames.

Known for her warm, social nature, Betty created memories and made lifelong friends wherever she went, from Sundre’s Riverside RV Park to winters in Brownsville, Texas.

Betty retired in 2005, and in 2009, she and Bob embraced small-town life in Strathmore, AB forming new friendships and relationships in Ranchwood Estates.

Her family was everything to her and she loved them dearly. Her fierce pride in her daughters, grandchildren, and great-grandsons was boundless, and she always celebrated their successes.

Betty is survived by her husband Bob, daughters, Lee Anne (Trent) Beesley and Mary Lynne (Mike) Martens; grandchildren, Meghan (Josh) Weber, Matthew (Evie) Beesley, and Jessica Martens; sister Lillian (Charlie) Spanton, and numerous nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her parents, Dorothy and Edgar; siblings, Noreen, Gord, Carl, Fred, and Ken; and grandson Aidan Martens.

A Celebration of Betty’s Life will take place on April 21, 2025, in Calgary, on what would have been her 84th birthday.

The family would like to thank Dr. Cynthia Card and staff from the Tom Baker Cancer Centre, Kyra Frank, RN and the Palliative Home Care Team, Trish and Harry at Sandstone McKenzie Lake IDA and Jenn from My Choice Home Health Care for their amazing care and compassion shown to Betty and her family in her final days.

If friends so desire, memorial tributes may be made directly to the War Amputations of Canada, National Headquarters, 2827 Riverside Drive, Ottawa, ON K1V 0C4, www.waramps.ca.

Condolences, memories, and photos may be shared and viewed with Betty’s family here.

In living memory of Betty Skippen, a tree will be planted in the Ann & Sandy Cross Conservation Area by McInnis & Holloway Funeral Homes, Fish Creek, 14441 Bannister Road SE, Calgary, Ab t2x 3j3, Telephone: 403-256-9575.