Ann Bettini Obituary

Longtime area resident Ann William Bettini died of pancreatic cancer in Ignacio on Sunday, July 19, 2009. She was 86.

Known as "Annie," she was born to Hickey William and Isabel Sedillos in La Posta on Sept. 7, 1922. She was a member of the Southern Ute Indian Tribe. Mrs. Bettini grew up in the area by the Weaselskin Bridge on the Southern Ute Indian Reservation, and her home as an adult was just east of where she grew up. Her family name was Weaselskin, but it was later changed to William when she was taken to the Indian Boarding School in Ignacio.

She married Victor Bettini in New Mexico in 1956.

The Bettinis moved to California in the late 1950s, where Mr. Bettini died in 1968.

In 1971, she moved back to the Florida Mesa with her two foster children and her adopted son Delbert Bettini, who died in 1972 after a long battle with bone cancer. Five years later, she moved to Ignacio to be closer to her work, but moved back to the area where she had grown up in 1983. Her family said she loved its openness and peacefulness.

Before she started working, she was a homemaker and took care of her family, which included nieces and nephews.

After returning to Southwest Colorado from California, she worked as a teacher's aide at Ignacio Elementary School from 1973 until her retirement in 1988. Mrs. Bettini found that she missed working after retiring, so she went back to work part-time as a Ute language teacher at Ignacio High School. Later, she volunteered at the schools her grandchildren attended. She shared the stories she wrote and the stories of her childhood with the students at the Southern Ute Indian Montessori Academy in Ignacio and Sunnyside Elementary School.

Mrs. Bettini was elected to the Ignacio Town Board in 1979 and served until 1983. In 1991, she received the Colorado Women of Color Award. She attended Calvary International and was recognized as Mother of the Year by her congregation in 2004.

She also worked with the Wycliffe Bible Translator to translate the Bible into the Ute language.

"Her passion was to go to the Towaoc Presbyterian Church to share her faith, songs and to encourage the Ute members to continue living for the Lord," her family wrote. "She was not afraid to share her faith with others. When family and friends needed a prayer, she was the one they would call."

Her family said she was a gifted writer who enjoyed writing children's stories, poems and songs. She also enjoyed reading, crocheting, shoveling snow, chopping wood, mowing her lawn, taking care of her yard and collecting rocks.

Her family said she spent a lot of time with her daughter and grandchildren.

"She was constantly on the go, never stopping for too long, just a short rest," her family wrote. "She loved to joke and spend time with family."

Mrs. Bettini was preceded in death by her husband, Victor Bettini; and her son, Delbert Bettini.

She is survived by her daughter, Cecilia Ross of Durango; nephew and foster son Danny Bean of Ignacio; sisters Arabella William, MaryAnn Scott and Vangie Montoya, all of Durango, and Jane Vallejos of Aztec; three grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews.

A celebration of life will be held at 10 a.m. today, July 24, 2009, at the River Church, 860 Plymouth Drive in Durango.

The Rev. Raymond Mestas will officiate. Burial will take place afterward at Greenmount Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Wycliffe Bible Translators, Mother Tongue Translators Fund (on memo line), P.O. Box 628200, Orlando, FL 32862.