Betty Jean Duca Hopson Durfee was born on April 12, 1928 to Arthur and Helen Ethington Duca in Niagara, Wisconsin. She married Michelle’s cousin Dick Durfee.

Betty Jean and her family moved to Rapid City, South Dakota, and then Spearfish. In the 1930 census, Arthur was working as a mechanic in Spearfish. Over the next few years, they also lived in Gillette and Upton, Wyoming. In 1940, Betty Jean and her family were living Sundance, Wyoming. Arthur was the service manager at the Chevrolet dealership.

On May 29, 1946, Betty married William Hopson Junior in Spearfish, South Dakota. They lived in Upton for a time, then in Sundance. Betty Jean worked as a telephone operator. William worked for the newspaper. Betty and William had 5 sons. They moved a fair amount, living in Spearfish, Rapid City, Huron, and Brookings, South Dakota. They also lived in California for a few years. Betty worked in a department store and also a movie theater. Bill died in 1959, and Betty and the boys moved back to Upton, Wyoming.

In August of 1961, Betty Jean married Richard Durfee in Rapid City. They had 4 girls together. They lived in Upton for a few years and them moved to Sundance. Dick and Betty both worked for the bank in Sundance. Dick died in 1983. Betty spent winters in Arizona with Elizabeth Durfee, Dick’s mother, until Elizabeth died in 1998.

Betty moved back to Sundance full time. She traveled to Australia and New Zealand. I remember Betty Jean from my visits to Sundance as a child. Unfortunately, I haven’t visited in several years. She was a really good baker.

Betty Jean Durfee died on June 19, 2015.