Betty Howell Moye

BETTY MOYE

Torrance, Calif.

Betty Moye, 86, died peacefully at her home in Torrance, Calif., on March 21, 2022. Celebrations of her life will be held on April 2 from noon to 4 p.m. at the Sunrise Room at the Cheesecake Factory in Redondo Beach and in Iowa at a later date.

Betty was born April 19, 1935, in Washington, Iowa, to Robert and Mazie Howell. She grew up on their farm in Crawfordsville. She often spoke about all the chores that were expected of a farm girl growing up, from taking care of the chickens and helping with the cooking and laundry. She ran a tight ship with the chickens and sternly put them in "chicken jail" when they behaved badly. She attended Crawfordsville Unified schools.

Betty attended Iowa State College in Education, where she met Anthony Moye (deceased) a graduate student in Chemistry. They married in 1957. While their marriage did not last forever, they raised three children together, Vickie, Julie and Chris, while moving from Iowa to Boston to Southern California. Once the children were all in school, Betty returned to college at Cal State University, Los Angeles. She was an early adopter of computer skills in Cobol, databases and risk analysis and an expert in many IBM mainframes.

Betty divorced in 1996 and moved to Torrance, Calif. She blossomed in her retirement and kept astoundingly busy renovating her house and garden, pursuing her interest in music with the piano, ukulele and harmonica, and traveling the world and Southern California. She also experimented with cooking and healthy eating before it became fashionable.

The Riviera Garden Club was one of her passions. She served in many different positions and was known for her fanciful hat designs, flower arrangements, and boundless energy. She also set up a volunteer garden program at a local elementary school and taught the joy of growing plants to many children who were very excited on the days when Miss Betty would show up.

She played and practiced with the South Bay Strummers Ukelele group. She loved to go to gigs and perform, especially at Christmas. She continued to enjoy playing and singing familiar songs even as Alzheimer's stole her away.

Betty was an amazing grandparent to all her grandchildren, Kristen, Evyn, Stormie, Anthony, Stefi and Stephen; and great-grandchildren, Sydney, Jackson and Jonas. She attended many plays and performances, taught cooking, sewing, and gardening.

Betty is survived by her three children, Vickie (Moye) Backman, Julie (Moye) and John Dickerson, and Chris and Amy Moye. We also would like to thank Betty's outstanding caregivers, Karla and Melody Edrial, for their love and support.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Robert and Mazie Howell, and her brother Gerald Howell. She will be interred at the Cambrian Cemetery in Louisa County, Iowa.

Please share a memory of Betty at https://everloved.com/life-of/betty-moye/.