Margaret Josephine Hays Bettin

Friday, Jun. 19, 2020

March 28, 1920 ~ May 11, 2020

Margaret J. (Hays) Bettin lived an astonishing life to the age of 100. She passed away peacefully on May 11, 2020. 

Born on March 28, 1920 in the Holy Cross Hospital in Salt Lake City,  to Josephine and Clarence Hays, Margaret was raised in Park City. In her 20s, during World War II, she moved to Salt Lake City to work as a telephone operator at Fort Douglas, where she met her husband, Edward Erin Bettin. They were married in the chapel of the fort on September 9, 1944. 

Margaret kept a meticulous home and took scrubbing floors to an extreme sport. She loved to bake, sew, plant flowers, spend summers at the cabin and fish at Mirror Lake. More importantly, she enjoyed spending time with her husband, children and grandchildren.  Margaret was a member and served as president of a women’s philanthropic organization, the Women’s Utah Motor Transport Association. Devout in her faith, she taught “Catechism of the Catholic Church” classes at the Cathedral of the Madeleine. 

Margaret was preceded in death by her husband. She is survived by her son Tom Bettin (Gail); daughters Pattie Buller (Paul), Michael Bettin, Monica Rotermund (Konrad); seven beautiful grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.  

The family will celebrate privately until we can safely gather for a proper Irish wake. In the meantime, please visit www.neilodonnellfuneralhome.com  to share your memories of Margaret or other thoughts. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to Utah’s Hogle Zoo.