Betty Lou Fashant

A Celebration of Life Gathering will be held Friday, December 29, 2023 from 12pm to 2:30pm at Gearhart Funeral Home, 11275 Foley Blvd NW, Coon Rapids. Interment at Morningside Memorial Gardens, Coon Rapids.

Betty was born on June 19, 1928 in Renville, MN to Zala and Marvel Hassell. After graduating from Renville High School, Betty attended St. Cloud State Teachers College where she earned a B.S. degree in Biology. Upon graduation she moved to Annandale, MN where she taught Biology at the high school.

Betty married Deane Fashant of Annandale on November 3, 1951. They moved to Minneapolis and worked at Honeywell and lived there until the birth of their son. At that time they moved to Coon Rapids, MN in 1957 where she lived the rest of her life.

Betty’s life was filled with many endeavors; worker, sport enthusiast, camper, poet, and world traveler.

As a mother, Betty took a position as cashier at a local grocery store. For years she enjoyed the people she worked with and community customers. People often recognized her for her friendly conversations while checking out their groceries. She was a hunter, fisher, camper, bowler and golfer.

Betty’s favorite holiday was Thanksgiving where for many years she hosted over 40 people at a sit-down dinner. She would plan for months, making pies and bread, cooking large turkey and all the fixings, and creating centerpieces for the tables set up in every square foot of the basement. It was a lasting memory for both sides of the family.

Betty had a way of telling a stories about life through her writing. Often she would send a Christmas poem or a childhood memory. Her most popular was an ode to the outhouse she would need to visit during cold winter nights. At 95, she could still recite it from memory.

She traveled the world and made it to every continent but Antarctica. Her favorite destinations were on safari in Africa and traveling to China and Tibet. She passed the travel gene on to her son. Probably her favorite spot to travel was to visit family in the Black Hills which was made many times throughout her life.

Betty is survived by her son Zala Fashant, Coon Rapids, MN sister Bonnie Beeson, Wahpeton, ND, nieces Vicky Laumer, Olivia, MN and Pam Ewer, Tucson, AZ. She was preceded in death by her husband, Deane Fashant on July 20, 1976 and siblings, Della Plowman, Hutchinson, MN and Uva Hahn, Olivia, MN and a baby brother, Renville, MN.