FINK, Betty

—

Betty Fink (née Betty Ann Littlechilds) of Kelowna, BC, passed away peacefully on the morning of April 25, 2023, at the age of 88. She is survived by her sons, Jason (Michelle) and Jeff (Iris); and granddaughters Michaela and Katrina. She was predeceased by her loving husband of 61 years, Werner.

Betty was raised by her loving grandparents, Robert John and Jessie Littlechilds, and subsequently by her uncle Clifford, on the farm in Whitford, AB. From a very early age, she worked hard on the farm, which helped to shape her into the strong and caring woman we all came to love. She often expressed fond memories of her time on the farm, and especially of her horse, Dyne.

After graduating from high school, Betty went on to the University of Alberta, where she earned her Teaching Certificate. She then taught for several years in each of Edmonton, Andrew, and Bruderheim, AB. At the end of her Alberta teaching tenure, Betty packed her bag and moved to Toronto, ON in the late 1950s to teach for many years in the Beaches area at Williamson Road Public School. It was during this transition to Toronto that Betty learned her mother Elsie was alive and raising a large family down the road from her grandparents’ farm. Betty established a relationship with half-siblings Muriel, Wesley, Harold, Ken, Shirley, Dennis, Hugh, Wayne, and Randy. Betty was grateful to have this extended family, and later visited them a number of times with Werner and their boys.

From her 1st year in Toronto, Betty began to make many friends, most of which have lasted a lifetime. She was a lifelong learner and was passionate about travel and history. In 1959, at the age of 25, Betty
and some colleagues signed up for a 54-day cross-continent (14,500km!) bus tour, sleeping on the second story bus bunks for the entire trip! Later that year, while out with friends at a Toronto dance hall
she met the love of her life, Werner, and they were married the following spring. Betty and Werner enjoyed the early years of their marriage with adventures and travelling before settling down to start their family. Betty’s history as a hard-working farm girl and teacher helped her to cope with raising their two rambunctious boys, and the family continued to travel, ski and camp together.

Throughout the 60s, 70s and 80s, from their homes in Scarborough, Ontario, she and Werner had a very active social life with many friends and many large and cherished gatherings with relatives from the Fink and Krutzler families. Betty loved these family times and tables of 15 to 20 relatives enjoying wonderful conversation, oversized meals, and good times with all the extended family. Through the 70s, Betty continued to teach for many more years with the Toronto Board of Education and then in the 80s with the Hart Academy. During this time, she also enjoyed playing basketball, tennis, and skiing. In the early 1990s Betty and Werner retired in Kelowna, where she joined the Mission Tennis Club, the Kelowna Naturalists Hiking Club, enrolled in continuing education courses, and was a regular attendee at
cultural and musical events in the city. Betty loved to read and was a member of a book club that lasted for more than 20 years. The friendships she established there (as so many of her lifelong friendships did) continued through the remainder of her life.

In Kelowna, fortune smiled on Betty when she became a grandma to two beautiful girls. She was their biggest cheerleader, babysitter, and teacher of many things. She was always involved in education in
some way and volunteered to read at Casorso Elementary when her granddaughters were students there. The girls were so lucky to have their grandparents living across the street where they could visit
and enjoy Grandma’s baking and cooking any time they wanted to, while finger-painting and dressing up in Grandma’s clothes.

Anyone who has met Betty, whether it be her peers, her colleagues, her friends, her sons’ friends or her granddaughters’ friends, has always remarked on how memorable and caring Mrs. Fink was. She was
curious about everything, and genuinely interested in everyone she met. She always saw the positive in everyone and everything. Betty was a wonderful cook and hostess, and made everyone and anyone feel welcome and at home, wherever she was.

Betty’s family would like to thank all of the doctors, nurses, and Care Aides at Kelowna General Hospital and Central Okanagan Hospice House for their outstanding care. Special thanks to Dr. Paul Hart, who was her dedicated, caring, guiding, and exceptional family physician for over 25 years.

A limb has fallen from the family tree.
I keep hearing a voice that whispers, “grieve not for me.”
Remember the best times, the laughter, the songs,
The good life lived while I was strong.
-author unknown

If you wish to send a condolence, post photos, or share a memory, please scroll down the page to the area called “Condolences”.