Services for Elisabeth “Betty” Masoner
Cease Family Funeral Homes
2807 Irvine Ave. NW Bemidji, MN 56601 (218) 751-9700 Fax (218) 751-9701 email address kcease@paulbunyan.net
Obituary for Elisabeth “Betty” Masoner
Elisabeth “Betty” Lenore Masoner, 90, died Monday, November 6, 2017 at Essentia Health in Fosston, MN.
Funeral services will be held at 11:00 am on Saturday, November 11, 2017 at Cease Family Funeral Home in Bemidji, MN. Visitation will be one hour prior to the funeral home. Interment will be at the Greenwood cemetery in Bemidji.
Betty was born May 22, 1927 in Bemidji, MN the daughter of Charles Van and Gustava (Trafton) Masoner. She graduated from Bemidji High School and received her teaching degree from Bemidji State College in the Spring of 1948. Betty was an educator extraordinaire. She spent fifty years teaching in Minnesota which included schools in Bemidji (Northern), Kensington, New Folden, Fosston, Mentor, Humboldt, Gonvick, and the last thirty years in Browerville. She taught music for many years and science and drama at Browerville. Many students owe her a debt of gratitude. Though she was involved in many activities at Browerville, it was the annual Veteran’s Day Program that became a signature highlight for Betty, the school, and the community. Her interest in the military stemmed from the fact that her father, Charles Van Masoner served in World War I. She had the unique ability to collect military memorabilia which gave her the ability to get uniforms for her Veteran’s Day Programs. Her programs started in Gonvick, and continued in Browerville for over thirty years. She became recognized and the VFW invited her to have her present a program to the VFW at one of their conventions…In 2002-2003 Betty was awarded the VFW National Citizenship Education Teacher Award. The criteria for being eligible to receive this award is to promote Americanism in the school. No one has done it better. Her latest recognition came November 10, 2014 when the 34th Infantry Division “Red Bull” Band of the Minnesota National Guard presented a program honoring our Nation’s Veterans and was dedicated to Betty at the Bemidji State College. Another important part of her life revolved around the Bemidji Music Camp. She has been a participant since its inception in 1948, as a student, then as a manager and helper, and as an instructor. She personally knew, worked with, and stopped with past Directors, Dr. Maurice Callahan, Dr. Edgar Gangware, and Dr. Ted Thorson; and music composers/directors such as Frank Simon (1st cornetist and Asst. Director to John Phillip Sousa), Glen Cliff Banum, Paul Yoder, Vaclav Nelhybel, Frank Piersol, Alfred Reed, Lt. Col. Arnald Gabriel, and William Ludwig (originator of Ludwig Drums), to mention a few. She also participated in the Bemidji Area Community Band for 35+ years, and in the BSU Symphonic Band after she retired in 2007. For all of us who continue on, Betty will remain an educator, mentor, friend, and as a family member for as long as the memory of her lasts. Betty was one of a kind and she wrote her own cadence.
She was preceded in death by her parents, and a sister, Gertrude May Healy. She is survived by her nephews, Garold (Judith Ann) Healy, George (Ann) Healy, and his children, Michael Healy and Lynn (Randy) Anderson; Lynn’s children, Kristin and Erik (Lindsey) Anderson; and Erik’s children, Leah and Collin.
Condolences may be left at ceasefuneralhome.com.