Betty is survived by her sisters, Patricia Onorato (Raymond Onorato) and Helen Jean Ruth, and her grandchildren, Devon Klauck (Zachary Klauck), Kimberly Nash (Philip Tapply), and Thomas Nash (Kathryn Nash). She is predeceased by her parents Marion and Ruth Weber, her siblings Lorraine Weber, Dorothy Lutz (Wayne Lutz), and Robert Weber (Mary-Lou Weber), her husband of 45 years, Col. Van Chandler, and her daughter, Linda Nash.
Betty moved to Colorado Springs in 1953 with her sister, Jean, to teach primary school, where she met Van, a Major in the United States Air Force, who she married 3 months later. In 1954 they had a daughter, Linda.
After Van’s death, Betty devoted a large part of her life to sharing Van’s military achievements and preserving his memory. Due to her work in this area, Van was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal as part of the American Fighter Aces in 2015. The award ceremony in which the medal was presented to her was one of the proudest moments of Betty’s life.
Betty was a dedicated teacher, devoted wife and mother, and loving grandmother. She was a lover of animals, especially her sweet dogs Jessie Pearl and Tinkerbell, Daisy, Mattie, Barney, and Tinker.
A memorial service for Betty will be held Friday, September 17, 2021 at 11:00 AM at Stoddard Funeral Home, 3205 West 28th Street, Greeley, Colorado. Following the memorial service will be an inurnment at 12:30 PM at Linn Grove Cemetery, 1700 Cedar Avenue, Greeley, Colorado 80631.
