Betty Zera Richard née Cadenhead
December 3, 1951 - June 29, 2020
Dear friends and family,
I want to share with you my own memory of the life of Betty.
Betty was born in Landshut, Germany December 3, 1951. Betty‘s mother, Gertrud Reimer, and her sister Lilo escaped from the Russian zone in East Germany after the war into Bavaria where they both eventually met and married American servicemen stationed with the occupation forces. Her father, Jimmie Cadenhead served 28 years in the United States Army Field Artillery, including three combat tours in Korea and Vietnam Nam. Betty and her two sisters were raised like so many military ‘brats’ in places like Ft Benning, Fort Sill, Kassel, Wertheim, Ft Lewis and Wiesbaden. In her senior year of high school in 1970, she travelled to Moscow and Rome, two trips that left a deep impression on her. Upon graduation from Wiesbaden High School (American high school located in Wiesbaden, Germany) she spent a year volunteering in an orphanage in Schwabisch Gmund in southern Germany. She returned to the U.S. and spent six months volunteering in an inner-city program sponsored by the United Churches of Christ in Philadelphia Pennsylvania. She actually worked with the local chapter of the Black Panthers. Her mother enticed her back to Oklahoma to begin her college career, where I had the good fortune to meet her; we were married on May 27, 1973.
At the time of our courtship my life vision was to purchase or buy into a local business and settle into a life in Southwest Oklahoma. Betty of course was all smiles and accepting. Having been commissioned as a lieutenant I was offered a two-year active duty tour. When I told Betty, she said something like “Gosh, wouldn’t that be an adventure! Then we can come back here and get on with our life.” Well, two and 28 years later, we were back in Oklahoma when we exited “Mother Army” in 2004. During that time, Betty raised four wonderful children (with some assistance from me) on a variety of army posts just like her parents: Bad Kreuznach (where Sean was born), Ft Ben Harrison (where David and Justin were born), Ft Ord (where Sarah was born), Camp King, Osterholz-Scharmbeck, Leimen, Ft Leavenworth, Ft Carson, Rhein Main Air Base, Carlisle Barracks, Heidelberg and finally Oklahoma City. When our oldest son Sean and his family moved from Phoenix Arizona to Portland in 2012, Betty asked for one last move to be close to her grandchildren; and that is how we ended up here in Portland.
The quintessential army spouse, she handled the home front while I tended to my duties. She was remarkable. In 47 years of marriage, Betty assured our many relocations occurred without a hitch. She enrolled kids in school; she settled the household and establish routines; she attracted friends immediately, in a much broader circle than my professional sphere of experience. I must admit that I would not be a retired Army Colonel without her partnership. She loved our soldiers and their families, and at every duty station she was in some way involved in their care. She tied people together. As a command spouse, she energize the family support groups, and engendered the trust of all the spouses. I was always amazed that the spouses of our youngest soldiers would tell her things that would never get to me otherwise. She worked in a variety of functions in our various assignments (sometimes for pay) including religious education, family support, volunteer management, substitute teacher, oriental carpet salesperson and congressional delegation escort. In short, Betty has always focused outside of herself on whomever was with her in the moment.
When we returned from Germany for the last time in 2001, Betty resumed her university studies to complete her bachelor’s degree in History, which she had put on hold for me. Her adventuresome spirit continued with her biannual sailings to Europe to visit her daughter, family and friends. In 2018 we walked the Camino de Santiago in Spain together. What a journey she has been on.
She was so appreciative of all the prayers and messages that came her way, some from people who have not had contact with her since girlhood. If I could sum it all up, I’d say your common experience of Betty is that she opened up her heart to you. She wrote this message at the beginning of her illness to all her friends in anticipation of this day:
“I want all of you to know I love you with all of my heart. You have been the gift of my life.
I thank God for each of you.
Please take care of each other, love each other, help each other, be kind to each other and those you encounter.
I don’t know what more I can say...I love you. Forgive me if I have hurt you.
Know that LOVE is the gift I want you to have.”
Betty is survived by her husband John, four children: Sean (Alicia), David, Justin and Sarah, grandchildren, Jeremiah and Nathanial, her sisters Kathy and Tina and brother Bodo.
There will be an intimate funeral service for family at St Juan Diego Catholic Church on Friday, July 10, 2020. Due to pandemic restrictions the service will be restricted.
In lieu of flowers, donations would be appreciated in Betty’s name to:
morrison Child and Family Services of Oregon (https://morrisonkids.org/ways-to-give/donate-now/) or donate to a similar organization in your home town
