Betty Helen Jankowski

09/13/1936 – 06/15/2022

On Wednesday, June 15, 2022, Betty Jankowski, longtime resident of Citrus Heights, passed away at the age of 85.

Betty was born in 1936 in the small town of Pewaukee, Wisconsin where her family ran a prominent dairy farm. Schultz Farm was a local landmark, once featured in a John Deere calendar. Betty was the youngest of 4 children born to Lester and Helen Schultz. She attended Pewaukee schools and worked hard with her sister and two brothers on the farm. After graduating high school, she moved to Milwaukee where she worked at a bank. Later she moved to Chicago where she took up bowling and became a popular member of her local bowling league. It was during a bowling night that she met her future husband, Robert “Bob” Jankowski of Chicago.

Betty and Bob were married in 1964 and moved to their first home in Hoffman Estates, IL. They purchased an iHop restaurant in Chicago and together ran a successful business that employed many young people over the years. After two years of marriage they were blessed with twin babies, Dawn and Wayne, in October of 1966. Less than two years later they were again blessed with twins, Dale and Cindy, in October of 1968. Betty had her hands full with 4 kids throughout the 70’s but was able to manage both her household and help with the business. She spent time assisting the boys Cub Scouts troop and the girls Blue Birds organization.

In 1976 the family decided to escape the cold Midwest winters, so they sold the Chicago restaurant and made plans to move to California. Bob purchased a used mail truck in Chicago and the kids named it “Big Red.” The family packed up all their belongings in Big Red and started across the country. Once they arrived, Bob sold the truck for a nice profit. The family stayed in hotels while their new home in Citrus Heights was being built and they moved in during October of 1977. Dawn and Wayne were the first people to ever celebrate a birthday in that new house, making their joint 11th birthday one to remember.

Shortly thereafter, Bob and Betty purchased a restaurant on Greenback Lane in Orangevale, CA called the Bashful Bull. Everyone in the family worked together to run this popular breakfast and lunch establishment, with Wayne and Dale in the kitchen and Dawn and Cindy in the front of the house. After hours, Bob coached for all of his kids’ sports teams. Wayne, Dale, Dawn, and Cindy all excelled in sports such as baseball, softball, track and soccer. Betty and Bob were always there to cheer them on. In 1986, after their youngest twins graduated high school, Bob and Betty closed the restaurant and retired early.

Bob, a WWII combat veteran, passed away in 1995 at the age of 70. Retired already for nearly 10 years, Betty began volunteering at the newly formed Citrus Heights police department in 1997. She received an award from President Obama for her decade of service to the community, saving the department hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years. While there she met a close friend, Mavis, who introduced her to travel with the Sports Leisure group. Betty embarked on a nonstop whirlwind of adventure travel, visiting exotic locales such as Iceland, Costa Rica, Niagara Falls, British Columbia, Hawaii and Alaska. Sometimes the destination was kept secret until arrival! She loved the people she met through Sports Leisure and many of them became lifelong friends. She also treasured the friends she made through her local hiking groups, the Solemates and Hangtown Hikers. One of her final outings was to a Solemates picnic in June 2022 and she was so happy to reconnect with her best friends that she had shared so many good times with over the years.

Betty loved animals and loved the outdoors. She was an avid hiker and kayaker who supported her community through her volunteerism with the police department, emergency response teams, food bank, assisting with the annual California Marathon, helping with lake and river cleanup efforts, spending time at the bird sanctuary and with several horse therapy and rescue organizations.

She is survived by her eldest brother, Ed Schultz (wife Audrey) of Pewaukee, her sister Mabel Trapp of Watertown, WI, her beloved children Dawn, Wayne (wife Ann-Marie) and Cindy, and her treasured grandson Spencer. She was preceded in death by her husband Bob (1995), her brother Harold (2013), her son Dale (2018) and grandson Robert “Bobby” Fagan (2014.) We know they have welcomed her into the afterlife and that she is now safe in their company.

Please visit the website https://bettys80thbday.shutterfly.com/to see photos from Betty’s life and from her 80th birthday celebration held on the Delta King on September 10, 2016.