Obituary: Betteanne Rutten

Betteanne Rutten

Betteanne Rutten

Ageless, Betteanne Rutten passed away at her home in Prescott, Arizona, on July 11, 2018. Always a goal setter, she was happiest when she was learning something new or perfecting an ongoing skill. She had successful careers in teaching, real estate, training director for a large department store chain, and art gallery management. When she retired, her lifelong love of poetry flourished. She was a familiar face in Arizona poetry circles, giving dramatic readings from her four published volumes. She won honors from the Arizona Poetry Society and her poems were published in various national journals.

Betteanne was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1941. Her family came to the West when she was a young girl, staying briefly in New Mexico before settling permanently in Arizona. Betteanne received her B.A. from the University of Arizona and her M.A. from Arizona State University. She was one of the founders of the Gifted Program for the Scottsdale School District, wrote gifted education curriculum, and her classroom was the State of Arizona model for gifted education programs. She subsequently launched a consulting firm that presented seminars for teachers and administrators, and later taught in the Paradise Valley School District, where she was the recipient of the prestigious Cox Communications Award of Excellence in Education.

Betteanne traveled extensively throughout her lifetime. She loved experiencing different cultures, spending much time in Europe. Her love of learning frequently took her to Mexico, where she lived with Mexican host families while taking Spanish language courses.

Never one to sit idle, Betteanne plunged into civic activities in Sedona, Arizona, where she relocated to from Phoenix in 2003 and lived for the following nine years. She served as President of the Sedona Arts Festival, Vice President of the Sedona Arts and Culture Commission, Chairperson of Art in Public Places, and was on the board of the Sedona Arts Center. She was also a volunteer for the Sedona Jazz Festival, the Sedona Film Festival, and the Sedona Chamber of Commerce. After returning to live in Phoenix in 2012, she served as a juror for the Scottsdale Arts Festival.

In 2015 she became a docent at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art.

Bettanne and her husband, Tom, found their forever home in beautiful Prescott, Arizona, in 2017. Betteanne quickly made friends and settled in to Prescott life, before becoming ill with cancer, which eventually took her life.

Betteanne had an enormous number of friends from diverse backgrounds. She cherished her friends as family. She was known for her enthusiasm, wit and loyalty, and for endless entertaining stories from her colorful life. Betteanne leaves behind her adored husband of 21 years, Tom; sons Russell Schaeffer of Fort Collins, Colorado, and Chase Harris of Redondo Beach, California; three grandchildren, Chance and Price Schaeffer and Shale Harris; and her sister, Kathy Gormally. She also leaves her beloved dogs, Misha and Turbo, who were never far from her side.

Tom said that his beloved Betteanne was like a prototype sports car: A one-of-a kind creation that was beautiful, sleek and smart, and who moved through life at high speed. Like all true exotics, she may have required a bit more maintenance and care than other models, but she never failed to turn heads whenever she came by. We will not see another like her again. Funeral arrangements were entrusted to Heritage Memory Mortuary. Please visit www.heritagemortuary.com to sign Betteanne’s online guestbook.

Information provided by survivors.


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