BETTY Wilson made an impact on everyone who met her. She was a woman who was practical, down to earth and fondly remembered by her family.
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A quote read at her funeral in November reflected the way the wife, mother-of-three, grandmother and great-grandmother, best lived her life.
"Remember that children, marriages and flower gardens reflect the kind of care they get."
Her family agree all three of these things flourished throughout Betty's life.
Born at Tempe in Sydney September 27, 1929, she was the youngest of six children.
In this period, during the 1930s, Australia was in recession and her mother, Dot, found herself in a difficult situation with six children to feed and no husband, due to an accident.
In 1932, when Betty was three-years-old, the family left Sydney and they moved to Dot's parent's farm at Gilgandra. Then, when Betty was six the family moved to Rawsonville where she attended the little bush school.
After school, she worked at Yardley's Cosmetics in Sydney and met her husband Alwyn after moving back to Dubbo and working at the Railway Refreshment Rooms.
Betty and Alwyn were married at Dubbo in 1950 at Holy Trinity Church.
They moved to Gilgandra and were there during the1955 flood disaster.
Their house and all the rest of their belongings were destroyed by the floodwaters out of the Castlereagh.
In 1957, Betty opened and successfully managed a corner store in Federation Street, Gilgandra, for more than five years.
The business was said to be successful thanks to her ability and her pleasant personality.
The couple moved to Drummoyne in 1975 and on Alwyn's retirement they moved back to Dubbo, now 17 years ago.
They had three children, Michael, Ruth and Kriss, eight grandchildren and eight great-grand children.
Said to be "unassuming," Betty received her five minutes of fame when she starred in an episode of the television series RPA.
