Elisabeth "Betty" Baxter

Elisabeth Mabel “Betty” Boatright Baxter died on July 14, 2025, just six days short of her 101st birthday.

Betty was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado, to Harvey Ezra Boatright and Helen Lucy Hubbard Boatright. She was the seventh of eight children born to Helen and Harvey. Betty’s family divided its time between Colorado Springs and Guanajuato, Mexico, as her father worked for Guanajuato Power Company as an electrical engineer. Betty became fluent in both Spanish and English growing up, and her childhood experience living in Mexico contributed to her lifelong appreciation of different cultures.

After graduating from high school in Colorado Springs, Betty enrolled in Colorado University in Boulder, majoring in Spanish, English, and French. She met her future husband, Ivan Pett Baxter, when they were both students and members of the CU Hiking Club, a group that camped and climbed mountains, including some 14-ers. According to Betty, she first spoke to Ivan after he’d taught the hiking club some songs he had learned while serving in the US Navy. She asked him to write out the words of a song for her. Before long, she noticed that he would playfully throw a pinecone at her now and then when the group was singing around the campfire, and their lifelong romance was born!

On September 1, 1946, Betty and Ivan were married in Colorado Springs. They settled in Hartland, Wisconsin, where Ivan worked as a mechanical engineer for Waukesha Motor Company, while Betty taught Spanish, French, and English at the Hartland High School from 1948 -1951 before they started their family.

In 1951, Betty gave birth to their first child, Marilyn Ruth Baxter. In 1953, Robert Ivan Baxter was born… followed by Fred Harvey Baxter in 1955 and Irene Elizabeth Baxter in 1957. Betty dedicated herself to full-time motherhood until the children were all in school. She was always glad to play a game down on the floor with her young children!

By the 1960s, the old Hartland High School was closed, and the new Arrowhead Union High School was in need of a Spanish teacher. Betty was happy to work part-time at teaching in the coming years, leaving herself time to serve as a Sunday school teacher at the First Congregational Church, a Brownie and Girl Scout leader, a Cub Scout den mother and an avid supporter of the PTA, Band Boosters and any other organizations that furthered the education and musical development of the children. Betty and Ivan were always in the audience of their children’s performances… unless Betty was the accompanist on the piano when one of the children performed a solo. She could be counted on to sew a costume for her children’s dramatic endeavors.

Betty and Ivan’s interest in hiking and camping remained during these years, though the emphasis was now on camping. They took the family on annual camping trips to Colorado, where they loved spending time with their extended family. They took other camping trips to Yellowstone Park, the Grand Canyon, Lake Powell, and other destinations… as well as a non-camping road trip to Mexico City and Veracruz on Mexico’s Gulf Coast.

Betty and Ivan were founding members of the Sussex Antique Power Association, involving the family in putting on the annual Engine Show in Sussex, Wisconsin. While Ivan loved restoring and operating antique steam engines and gas engines, Betty lent her musical talents to playing the calliope for the show and contributed her writing skills to articles for the annual Show Book.

After the children had grown up, Betty and Ivan became more active in bicycle riding, square dancing, round dancing, and even learning the tango, and other hobbies. When Betty retired from her long teaching career, she began accompanying Ivan on some of his business trips, which they both enjoyed. They also dedicated more of their time to volunteering for their church.

After Ivan also retired, their travels expanded to include winter stays in Arizona. After an invitation to visit her sister Alice and brother-in-law Bill there, they became hooked on the variety of activities! Suddenly, they could rekindle their love of hiking in the mountains! At first, they only stayed there for a few weeks each year, because Ivan was still chairman of the Hartland Planning Commission, and he didn’t dare miss more than one monthly meeting a year. However, after enviously watching their hiking club friends training for a hike to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and back up, they decided it was time to resign from the Planning Commission and stay in sunny Arizona all winter! From that point on, they enjoyed their winters as thoroughly as their summers. They made many close “snowbird” friends, and yes, a year later, they hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and back, while both were in their mid-seventies.

After Ivan passed away in 2004, Betty continued to winter in Arizona for another 16 years, still in the hiking club and the Parkettes marching group, singing in the church choir and a jazz chorus, and active in several book clubs. She famously rode her three-wheeled bicycle all the way around the 2.2 mile perimeter of the resort every single day of the winter, rain or shine, until age 96! She lived next door to her daughter Marilyn and son-in-law Johnny during her last eight winters there.

During those years, she lived with her daughter Irene and son-in-law Alberto and their family in Hartland in the summers, enjoying church, choir, book club, and other activities there, and especially enjoying being near her grandchildren.

In 2021, Betty moved into the Shorehaven Senior Living Community in Oconomowoc, where she embraced a new life once again! She made friends with her fellow residents and the caring staff, all of whom she regarded as family. She played piano for a sing-along group, enjoyed pontoon boat rides on Lac LaBelle, rode on a Tri-Shaw (pedal-powered rickshaw driven by a volunteer) through parks, and enthusiastically gave it her all in games such as balloon volleyball, while continuing her interest in crossword puzzles, book club, and word games. During her years at Shorehaven, she also stayed in close touch with her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, playing koosh-ball catch, chess, and piano, and doing card tricks with the youngest generation when they would come to visit, and staying in close touch with her extended family via monthly Zoom calls.

Betty remained in good health during most of her nearly 101 years, with a relatively brief illness during the last few weeks of her life. A life well-lived indeed!

Betty is survived by three children: Marilyn (Johnny) Carver of Minnesota, Fred (Deborah) Baxter of Colorado and Irene (Alberto) Baena of Oak Creek, Wisconsin; also by seven grandchildren: Kimi (Angelica) Jackson, Jarad (Diane) Jackson, Rhiannon (David) Villafuerte, Ian (Olena) Baxter, Kylee Wasechek, Addison (Ambrose) Baena and Kelsey (Caleb) Christenson; and by six great-grandchildren: Ariana Villafuerte, Dylan Jackson, Drew Jackson, Harper Baxter, Naomi Christenson and Willow Baxter; as well as many dear nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents and all of her seven siblings: Richard, Ida, John, Alice, Ruth, Mary, and Harvey. She was also preceded in death by her beloved husband Ivan, and Betty and Ivan experienced the tragic loss of their son Robert Ivan Baxter in a motorcycle accident in 1981.

Betty lived her life with courage, optimism, and love. She showed everyone that happiness is a choice we can all make… always looking for the good in any situation. Her enthusiastic presence helped those around her to feel joy.

The family prefers that memorials be sent to either Brighton Hospice at 300 N. Executive Dr. #110 in Brookfield, Wisconsin 53005, or Shorehaven Senior Living at 1305 W. Wisconsin Ave., Oconomowoc, Wisconsin 53066, or to the First Congregational Church at 110 Church St., Hartland, Wisconsin 53029.

A Celebration of Life will be held on Sunday, July 20, at 2:00 p.m. in the chapel at Shorehaven in Oconomowoc.