Farewell to Betty Jane Vesey Gewald.
If you met Betty Gewald, you remember her, perhaps as a steadfast believer in books and daily siestas; a world traveler who studied each country’s history and culture; a risk-taker who went scuba diving on her 80th and Harley riding on her 90th birthdays; a passionate aficionado and collector of Asian art, especially blue and white porcelain; an accomplished accountant and businesswoman who worked until her stroke this year; an involved community member with limitless energy and strong opinions; a gardener who thrilled in the survival of each flower and tree after the frost; an animal lover whose pets were lucky indeed; a fierce competitor in a game of cards; and the family matriarch, adored and revered in perpetuity. She was a powerhouse of a woman whose peaceful passing on Sept. 19, 2015, surrounded by family, leaves a giant void in the lives of those she has left behind.
She used to say that she was an “army brat, born on the hinge of the Golden Gate” at Presidio Army Base on May 3, 1923, to parents Capt. Robert Hale Vesey and Effie May Bridewell. She told stories of growing up in many memorable cities, but it was in high school in Manila, the Philippines, where she met a maverick of a man, Harold William (Bill) Gewald. He wooed her for years. She finally succumbed to his many marriage proposals and they wed on Dec. 21, 1944, just before she graduated from UCLA with a degree in chemistry.
Bill and Betty returned to the Philippines after World War II and despite the numerous innovative businesses they jointly owned and operated throughout Asia, they believed their finest accomplishment to be their family. Theirs was an incredible partnership, and even the death of Bill Gewald on March 5, 2002, could not sever their union.
As a museum volunteer and historian, as a member of the Coupeville Park and Recreation Committee, and in multiple community capacities, Betty Gewald contributed greatly to the town of Coupeville, where she and Bill lived for over 25 years in the family home his great-grandfather built in the late 1800s. She loved Whidbey Island! She loved most deeply, though, her family that survives her: elder “seesta,” Jeanette Vesey West; children Robert, Tony and Jeanette; daughters-in-law Lea and Dona; niece Gretchen and nephews Dan and John; grandchildren Christopher, Nicholas, Lauren, Matthew, Amanda, Derek and Claudia; and great-grandchildren Marin, Porter and Eli. Her legacy lives on.
Celebrate Betty Gewald’s life with us at the Coupeville Library at 1 p.m. on Oct. 3. In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to Friends of the Coupeville Library in Betty Vesey Gewald’s name. She would love that. Selamat Djalan, Mom!
Funeral arrangements were entrusted to Wallin Funeral Home. To share memories or condolences please visit Betty’s Book of Memories page on the funeral home website at www.wallinfuneralhome.com
