Betty Hagen (Nee Heim )

Our beloved mother, grandmother, great grandmother, great-great grandmother, and incredible friend and inspiration to many — affectionately called “Momar” and “Bummy” — Betty Lou Hagen sweetly entered the Gates of Heaven on Feb. 5, 2022, at the age of 100. She was surrounded by her loving family and at the very end heard Psalm 23 – “I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

Betty Lou was born on Jan. 2, 1922, in Wheat Ridge, Colorado, to Martin and Matilda Heim. She was raised on a small five-acre farm with her two older brothers, Harold and Edwin. A third brother, Gilbert, died in early childhood. In addition to raising chickens and alfalfa, her father was a teacher at North High School. Betty Lou enjoyed riding along when her mom delivered fresh eggs and chickens to many of the teachers her father worked with and others in North Denver. Sadly, her mother passed away in 1936, when Betty was 14.

Betty Lou was always a good student and champion speller. She skipped a couple of grades and entered the University of Colorado at the age of 16, in 1938, to study nursing. Feeling the need to “get out on her own,” Betty Lou left college after three years to attend Barnes Business School, where she completed a secretarial course. She landed one of her first jobs with the Corps of Engineers, which was increasingly busy and fulfilling, given the advent of World War II. While there, she met Charles Lomonaco, who she married in 1944. Charles had a young daughter, Marianne, from a previous marriage, who Betty adored. In 1947, Betty Lou and Charles purchased what became later known as the “Bummy House” on south Franklin Street, where Betty lived in until her death. Throughout their years together, their family grew. In addition to their daughter Marianne, Betty Lou and Charles had four more daughters — Nancy, Becky, Diane and Debbie — a house of five girls.

Betty loved being a homemaker and dedicated mom to her girls. She was always canning, cooking, dreaming up a new project or gift, e.g., candle and soap making, or working in her beautiful garden. She loved nature and the mountains — having grown up camping all over Colorado with her mom and dad.  She never met a road trip she didn’t like — usually with three or four girls in the back seat singing show tunes from the “Sound of Music.” She “skied” Berthoud Pass before there was a ski area there. At 85, she rafted the Taylor River. She loved to pull on her old hiking boots and head to the mountains, including every year to gather decorative Christmas “greens.” Among her favorites were Kinnikinnick and Juniper berries, which she continued to gather until 2021. Holidays were always special at Betty’s house – especially Christmas. She would make huge trays of cookies, her mother’s legendary cranberry bread and “kinni” topiary balls, which we delivered to families AFTER the midnight Christmas Eve service at St. Johns Cathedral.

She loved her home on Washington Park, with its backdrop of the Rocky Mountains out the front door and huge elm and ash trees spanning the yard. Betty was the consummate hostess – throwing open her home for countless slumber and birthday parties, baby and bridal showers, wedding ceremonies and receptions, Young Life gatherings, bible studies and international student dinners. Several foreign students from Japan, China, Indonesia, and Saudi Arabia lived with her over the years. Young Life met at her home for years, and many a teenager made a commitment to the Lord in her living room. She always felt the house belonged to God and needed to be used as a place of welcome, solace, peace, and, above all, love. Generosity was a hallmark of her life, even when she didn’t have much herself.

Betty had difficult times, including financially, after her divorce and the tragic and sudden death of her 16-year-old daughter Nancy, both taking place in 1964. She somehow scraped together the money to start a rose garden in Nancy’s memory in the Mt. Vernon Garden at Washington Park. For years, she funded the rose garden, which still bears a small plaque in Nancy’s memory.

Betty never wavered in her commitment to provide for her family and trust in God – twin motivations that became a driving force for the rest of her life. She went back to work, often juggling two jobs so her girls would have enough to get by. One of our favorite stories is about the time she was a penny shy of the bus fare she needed to get to work downtown. She talked to God all the way to the bus stop – grumbling that she would have to ask the bus driver to let her on – and there on the top of the snow was a penny. She saw that as a touch of God’s loving presence and intervention in her life. Becky made a plaque that read “His amazing care and love for us we know, because God put a penny in the snow.”

Betty had a variety of accounting and bookkeeping jobs at various companies, from Food Giant, Blue Cross, and Western Property Management to the estate tax department of Holland & Hart. Ever resourceful, she learned the ins and outs of the tax business and started doing tax returns as a second source of income. We always liked to tell people she was “the sharpest pencil in town.” With each successive job and lots of hard work, her fortunes started to shift and culminated in a position with NG Petry Construction Company, where she was the office manager and bookkeeper. For several years, Mr. Petry was President of the National Western Stock Show, and Mom, being a true Western gal, decided to get involved, too. For many years, Betty sponsored a 4H youth in the “catch a calf” contest. The 4H youth would catch a calf at the stock show and then raise the cow to show at the following year’s Western Stock Show. Betty would pay for the cost of the calf and feed, as well as check in throughout the year with her sponsored child/teen (and the cow).

With her job at Petry, Betty became a member of an international organization of women called EWI (Executive Women International). Each member (at that time usually the top administrative/executive assistant) represented their company at EWI, which provided professional development and a large network of smart, competent, snazzy women, mostly in business. She eventually became president of the Denver chapter. Through EWI, Betty Lou made many lasting friendships and travelled to conventions, from Hawaii to Canada and all over the U.S. The women she met through the organization continued to be a wonderful circle of friends up until her final days.

Another one of Betty’s passions was to own land in the mountains. With a couple of partners and literally no money, she started looking for small tracts of land to both develop and preserve, especially since she was worried the mountains as she knew them would disappear. In 1972, she and her partners succeeded in buying the upper half of a ranch near Kremmling on the Gore Canyon, where they developed 36, 10-acre sites. In due course, she became a licensed real estate broker and spent weekends driving between Denver and Kremmling to show “the land” and hike most of it in her, um, to put it mildly, well-worn hiking boots. They eventually sold the entire parcel of 2,360 acres to a buyer who was counting on the Olympics coming to Colorado – much improving Betty’s financial picture.

After her retirement from Petry, Betty decided she was interested in the stock market and investing. In addition to her tax business, she became a stockbroker at 77 and worked for various small firms. She loved the ups and downs of the market (OK, mostly the ups) and founded many investment clubs.   She continued operating her tax and brokerage businesses until the young age of 95. Betty was also very interested in politics and a dedicated, active member of the Denver Republican Women’s Club.

Throughout the years, Betty’s spiritual life deepened and grew. She taught Sunday School for many years at St. Johns Cathedral. She attended a variety of churches, from St. Mark’s and St. John’s to Redeemer Temple to South Fellowship. Most recently, she attended Highline Community Church and Christ Episcopal Church. Her relationship with God was of the utmost importance to her and spilled over into every part of her life. In 1989, she met and married retired Pastor Chet Hagen. They were together until his death in 1998. She was always eager to learn and enjoyed Biblical study trips to Israel and Rome.

Betty was a constant source of encouragement and inspiration for her girls. She helped them grow and develop their natural abilities, seeing them through college and beyond. She continued to be involved and fully present in their adult lives in countless and meaningful ways. And she was just plain FUN to spend time with. She was totally smitten with and devoted to her eight grandchildren, 10 great grandchildren and two great-great grandchildren. She welcomed each new addition of spouse and child to her growing family and loved nothing more than getting together with the whole family, usually around a long dinner table set with beautiful crystal and china.

Betty Lou could have so easily given up and been overwhelmed by the trials and cares of life. Instead, she chose to THRIVE and love others! Her legacy and impact on so many are beyond comprehension.

One of her favorite verses from her well-worn Bible was:

“This is what the Lord says to you: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s…Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”  (2 Chronicles 20:15)

We will miss you dearly, our precious Momar.

Rest in the arms of the Lord,

Well done, good and faithful servant.

Memorial/Donations:

Agape Hospice Services

6041 S. Syracuse Way, Suite 220

Greenwood Village, CO 80111

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Young Life

https://giving.younglife.org/southcentraldenver

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Downing House Foundation

3680 South Downing Street

Englewood, CO 80113

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------