Joseph Betor's Obituary
On October 17th, 2024, Joseph Betor passed away in Tacoma, WA, at the age of sixty-nine.
Born in Schenectady, NY on April 3rd, 1955, to Evelyn (Lyn) Hoffman Betor and George Betor. He grew up in Ballston Spa, NY where he learned to love nature, swimming, and reading. He decided to learn to fly and when he was 16, he took a job at the local airport to pay for his flying lessons. He passed his test and became the youngest pilot in the county at age 17, much to the delight of his younger siblings whom he would treat to short rides.
He attended the University of Miami in Florida and then transferred to the State University of New York at Albany where he received his BS in biology. Later he would attend Union College in Schenectady, NY receiving his Masters in Information Technology.
When Joey made a friend, they were a friend for life. He loved to travel and would ride his motorcycle around the country and into Canada to visit old and new friends from all the places he lived and all the places they moved to. After leaving NY, he lived in TX, CA, and finally Tacoma, WA where he found his true home. In Washington, he enjoyed skiing, hiking and daily swimming at the YMCA. His house is decorated with photographs of the mountains he loved.
His last year was spent riding his motorcycle around the country to visit his friends and to experience the full eclipse of the sun. He called it his “goodbye tour”. He is survived by his mother Lyn Betor, and younger siblings John, Malakay, and Monica and his cat, Black Peter.
Joey loved the Grateful Dead. At the end he would sing:
I ain't often right
But I've never been wrong
It seldom turns out the way
It does in the song
Once in a while
You get shown the light
In the strangest of places
If you look at it right
In lieu of flowers, we request donations to The Sierra Club, The Pierce County Humane Society, or The Tacoma Rescue Mission.
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