Betty Jean Hufman

1931 - 2021

Betty Hufman of Fairbanks, Alaska, passed away peacefully of natural causes at her home Dec. 14, 2021. She was 90 years old.
Betty Jean Clark's life's journey began on Nov. 23, 1931. It was during the depression years and her dad, a country school teacher, was struggling to support his family. He loaded up the family in an old touring car and headed to Oregon where his brother lived. Seeing the beauty of the West Coast compared to the plains of Kansas, they decided to stay in southern Oregon. Steady jobs were hard to find in those years. Her dad was first a teacher, then became principal of a three-room grade school in the tiny community of Wimer. There was a small store, gas station, church, a grange hall and a neat covered bridge over a creek near her house. The small Oregon town was a great place to grow up. Betty went through grade school there and later moved to Rogue River, Oregon, where the high school was located.
After graduating high school in 1949, Betty worked for a local doctor who had cared for her mother. She had expressed interest in eventually becoming a nurse but needed a better paying job for that to happen. She became a service representative at the Pacific Telephone Company and moved to Grants Pass, Oregon. That is where she met Bob Hufman. Soon after her mother had a stroke and Betty moved home to help with her mother's care. She managed to keep working part time while taking care of her mom. When her mom's health improved, Betty then reconnected with Bob when his line crew came into town. Betty and Bob eloped to Reno and were married in 1952.
That summer Bob worked in Alaska, returning to Oregon in time for their son David to be born. Bob was determined to move back to Alaska. He drove north again in the spring of 1953, got a job he hoped would be permanent, and sent for Betty and David.
They arrived in Fairbanks, Alaska, on a beautiful September day in 1953 - but then winter came. Betty had never been that far from her family before. Winter was harsh, the house cold and small. Her second son, Joseph, was born that winter. By spring, she was hoping that Bob's temporary job at Golden Valley Electric Association would end and that they could move back to Oregon. Summer came. Betty made new friends and fell in love with Paxson Lake where Bob's father, Doc Hufman, lived. Betty decided she was glad Bob's job wasn't temporary. Two more sons, John and Paul, joined the family over the next several years and Betty was mostly a stay-at-home mom. Her time spent as den mother, at PTA meetings, sitting on bleachers, settling fights and taking fish hooks out of young heads and hands made for wonderful memories. She worked part time, volunteered, and was actively involved in the Pioneers of Alaska, the League of Women Voters, the Forget Me Not garden club, her sewing club and her group called WOW, Women Of the Wilderness. She helped build the family cabin at Paxson Lake, traveled a bit, and made many wonderful friends along the way. She was married to Bob for over 65 years and loved him for a lifetime. Betty was truly blessed to have dear friends and a loving family. She learned to love Alaska and was grateful not to be in Kansas anymore.
Betty was preceded in death by her parents, Hugh and Sylvia Clark; her brother, Dean; her sister, Ruth; and her husband, Bob Hufman.
Betty is survived by sons David (Joanne), Joe, John (Sonia) and Paul (Gina); Muriel and Kim; her niece Lonnie (Jim); her grandchildren Colin (Erin), Danielle, Kaye (Cory), Blake (Amy), Haley (Justin) and Laura Belle (Wade); and great-grandchildren Leif, Eilie, Riley, Silas, Stevie, Annabel and Elija.
Services for Betty will be announced this spring.