Betty Greer
My next door neighbor, Betty Greer, was born in Portland, Oregon on the 20th day of October, 1919. Yeah, do the math. The defining feature of Betty, however, is not her age but, rather, her warm, delightful personality. The easy laughs that color her conversations lets you know you've found a person with whom you want to share some time.
As an only child, Betty Dunlap received the full loving attention of her father, which was probably an off-putting circumstance for her mother, who developed a contentious relationship with her daughter. As a little girl, Betty recalls being forced to cut willow switches (no wimpy little ones were acceptable) for her own applied discipline. This had the effect of making the bond with her father even closer.
The stock market crash of 1929 brought on a financial disaster for the Dunlap family. Her father's construction business that had supported their privileged lifestyle was wiped out along with millions of others in depression-era America. Betty attended the prestigious Ulysses S. Grant High School where now she wore clothing from low end stores. But clothes don't affect the life spark that fuels the spirit and Betty didn't miss a beat. She and her friends weathered the storm.
Betty's parents couldn't afford college for her but they managed to send her to a secretarial school and she absorbed those skills and found employment as a secretary although those first jobs only paid 30 1/2 cents an hour. She later landed employment with a government bureau that paid better. A favorite colleague at work was a young, Japanese-American woman who, after the Pearl Harbor attack, was swept away to the holding area in the Portland Stock Yards for people of Japanese descent. This cruel treatment of American citizens enraged Betty's mother and even though the Dunlap family had little spare money themselves, she and Betty went on a shopping spree for groceries and personal hygiene items, filling two large bags, which they took to the stock yards for her friend's family. After the Japanese families were moved to Idaho, Betty lost track of her colleague.
Early in the war, Betty and her friend Isabell went on a great adventure to Baghdad by the Bay, San Francisco. Both of their mothers were out of sync with their daughters so the girls, who were 19, just ran away from home. If you live in Oregon, San Francisco is California's magic city and it became home for Betty and Isabell for the next three years. One evening they visited the bar in San Francisco's iconic Palace Hotel and Betty noticed a group of seven soldiers checking them out. An advance scout from the squad approached Betty and told her he and his friends were new to the city and wondered if the two girls would consider showing them the town? A nervous Betty confessed that neither of them knew the city to which the scout announced that would be perfect with all of them discovering the charms of San Francisco together.
Can you see the movie? Betty and Isabell escorted by a platoon of the U. S. Army's finest, dancing up and down San Francisco's famous Lombard Street? Their limo negotiating those San Francisco streets with the occupants leaning out the windows, waving to the crowds? Open up that Golden Gate for Betty and Isabell as they lift the morale of our country's warriors.
In 1944 as World War II was coming to an end, Betty met and married Stan Greer. Stan worked for Pacific Metal Company of Tualatin, Oregon, where, over the years, he became president of the company. During those years, Stan and Betty brought along two daughters and two sons to brighten their home and the family became active in the Rose City Presbyterian church. Stan's job as president of the company allowed them the opportunity to travel internationally which they both enjoyed.
A hobby of Stan's led him to becoming a skilled magician who entertained at children's birthday parties. In Betty's words, "He was really good." Stan Greer became a popular city celebrity.
Starting sometime wayyyy back in that other century, Betty Dunlap did something truly amazing: She started writing a journal in lined notebooks. All those notebooks today occupy multiple stacks on her closet shelf and it is my belief the Oregon Historical Society would love to get their hands on them.
Break out the candles and stand by with the fire extinguisher. October 20 is just around the corner.
