Betty Dratz

Just Cremation

Betty Leaphart Dratz died peacefully in her home on June 26, 2016, 15 days after celebrating her 95th birthday. The weeks prior to and at the time of her death she was surrounded by her children and other family members who helped to make her final days serene and untroubled.  Betty was born Betty Powell Leaphart in Missoula to Charles William Leaphart, dean of the Law School at the University of Montana, and Mary Rodes Leaphart, a transplanted Southern belle from Kentucky. She grew up in Missoula, at a picturesque home at the base of Mount Jumbo known as Black Acre. Her sister, Mary, still resides there at the age of 100. Betty’s twin brother, Bill, was a prominent Helena attorney, who left us in December 2013.  Betty married John Paul Dratz, a lieutenant in the U. S. Army, in December 1945. They were married in the First Presbyterian Church in Missoula, the church she was baptized in and the church where her final goodbyes were said. Their union produced four children, John Jr. , Peter, Mary and Grace. After several moves they ended up in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where Betty had a career as a dietitian for Tulsa Public Schools. Her husband John was a respected and well-loved professor at the University of Tulsa. They spent the next 30 years in Tulsa before returning to their much-beloved Missoula.  After returning to Missoula, Betty and John spent countless hours bowling, playing golf, and spending time with family and friends at the cabins on Placid Lake. Betty especially looked forward to summer when family would converge on "grandma’s house. " Betty loved seeing her kids and granddaughters no matter how old they got. Family took on a new importance after John Sr. died in 2003. A new addition to the family in 2004 was a cockapoo named Jamie, who was deemed "my best behaved child. "  Betty enjoyed socializing with the ladies from PEO and her “As You Like It” group, and she was always a proud Kappa Kappa Gamma. She played a mean game of Scrabble, loved reading the works of James Lee Burke and Tony Hillerman, and she was an avid traveler. She took her last trip to Hong Kong at the age of 90 accompanied by Libby McClay, an “As You Like It” companion and friend of the family.  In her last years, Betty’s closest year-round companions were her caregivers, Carrie Carpenter and Barbara Shepard and their children. Betty was particularly fond of her niece, Susan Leaphart, and her nephew, John Carter, and their families. Betty’s family will always be grateful for their assistance as Betty became reliant on others to meet her needs. The family also appreciates the help of other caregivers including Barb Bradford, Betty’s physicians, St. Patrick Hospital and Betty’s financial advisers and attorneys, who always put Betty’s needs first.  Betty is survived by her children, John of Los Angeles, Peter (Cristy) of Hong Kong and Grace Hasler (Mike) of Tulsa. She is also survived by her granddaughters, Katie Dratz and Ana Dratz, both of Brooklyn, New York, and Hayley and Jessica Hasler, both of Tulsa. Her sister, Mary Carter of Missoula, and a large extended family also survive. She was preceded in death by her husband John, daughter Mary Dratz and twin brother Bill Leaphart.

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Betty Dratz Obituary | Just Cremation