Betty Honn remembered for ability to connect, care

When Dan Honn was a child, someone asked him what his mother, Betty Honn, did for a living.

“I told them her occupation was church,” said Dan Honn, the youngest of Betty Honn’s four children.

Over the course of her 47-year-membership at Opportunity Presbyterian Church in Spokane Valley, Honn held the title of elder, deacon, Bible school teacher, youth group leader, wedding planner, kitchen guru, and all-around mother figure, in addition to being Super Mom at home.

“She was ‘Mama Honn’ to a lot of kids,” said Honn’s daughter, Helen Honn, of Spokane Valley. “There wasn’t a person that she came across that she didn’t leave a positive mark on.”

Even at 80, Honn was still taking care of the “little old ladies,” at the church, Helen Honn said.

“She just had a real loving way of dealing with people. That’s what made her so special.”

Betty Honn died Aug. 31 from a stroke.

Born in Williston, N.D., she grew up in Polson, Mont., where she graduated from high school.

In 1942, at the start of World War II, Honn moved with her family to Spokane, where she met her husband of 56 years, Gerald Honn. The couple were married Feb. 7, 1948, in Spokane.

They moved to the Spokane Valley in 1954, where they later joined the church near Sprague Avenue and Pines Road.

“We decided early on that I would work, and she would take care of the home and the children,” Gerald Honn said. “She became active in the church and was our community representative.”

Betty Honn volunteered thousands of hours, most notably as a mentor to hundreds of Spokane Valley children at Opportunity Presbyterian.

“There are certain people that just have that ability to connect with people,” said the Rev. Craig Hall, pastor of Opportunity Presbyterian. “Betty had that quality, where she was able to connect with people of all generations.”

Honn and her husband were in charge of the youth program in the late 1960s and ‘70s, attracting hundreds of kids for their morning breakfast at the church. She also taught Bible school on Sundays.

Her impact on the youth in her community was evident by the 275 people that showed up to her memorial service over the Labor Day holiday, Hall said.

“There were many middle-aged people getting up and giving wonderful tributes about her from when they were teenagers,” Hall said. “It was truly a testament to her character. She was witty, and bright, and tuned into people.”

More important than her service to the church and the community was her family. The Honns have four children and eight grandchildren.

She was the kind of grandma that always had your favorite candy in the dish when you came over, her grandchildren said.

She also was dubbed the “Queen of the Kitchen,” famous for her cooking at the church and at home.

“When she made pie, she didn’t make just one, she made 12,” said Carol Herzog, another daughter who lives in Longview, Wash. “I think we all have our favorite dishes that she made, but you couldn’t decide on any one thing because everything she made was so wonderful.”

After she became ill, Honn wasn’t able to attend church services or to work in the newly remolded kitchen at the church. The church was demolished and rebuilt over a two-year period, opening in the spring of 2004.

“The new kitchen has a lot of her influence,” Hall said. “She’s one of the people that had a hand in the planning.”

At home, Gerald took on the role Betty had filled for so long, cooking meals and tending to their home.

“She was always supportive, she would stand by and tell me what to do,” Gerald Honn said.

But watching just wasn’t her way.

The day before she went to the hospital for what would be her last time, Gerald brought home three boxes of peaches.

Betty sat proud on a stool in her kitchen, scooping peaches into jars that would be canned for family and friends to enjoy.

“She never forgot a friend, she always made sure that everybody had what they needed; a birthday or a Christmas present,” said son Pat Honn of Texas.

The closets in their home are stashed with Christmas gifts for this year; Hallmark cards left in boxes for just the right occasion.

“You met Mom, and she just drew people to her. They would come over once, and they would come again and again,” Pat Honn said. “That’s the woman she was. You met her, you liked her, you loved her, and she stayed in your life forever.”