Vale Beverly Gay Betts 29/9/50 – 15/4/21 – Armidale Express

The New England community said farewell to a much-loved stalwart of the transport industry recently when Beverly Betts (matriarch and co-founder of Betts Transport) was farewelled and celebrated at a memorial service attended by more than 1000 people in St Peter’s Anglican Cathedral in Armidale. Bev, as she preferred to be known, lost her life to ovarian cancer, aged only 70 years young. Beverly Gay Fenning was born in Gloucester to Bill and Elsie Fenning and was their second child and a sister to Colin. READ ALSO: Bev said her mother was a great example to her and always asked, “are you still working?” And if she was, she would always say, well done. Elsie also always told Beverly to believe in the Lord as there is nothing else to believe in. Beverly met her future husband, Peter Betts, at school in Gloucester and were childhood sweethearts. The couple were together for 54 years and married for almost 49 of those. They married in Gloucester on May 6, 1972. Though not intentionally, this was quite a strategic move. It joined the timber industry in Gloucester with the Betts family bringing the logs into the timber mill and the Fenning family taking the sawn timber away it was a marriage made in business heaven. Bev worked at Carson’s Saw Mill and then for her parents transport company. The couple’s first vehicles were a motor car and a motorbike and Bev often rode the motorbike to work. Later in life, Bev’s grandchildren never believed she could ride a motorbike, so the family set up a situation where she arrived at a park on a scooter where the kids were playing.nBev was quite proud of herself cruising into King Edward Park in Newcastle, nearly falling off as she watched them with the giggles. Her charity work began early in her life when Beverly competed in the Miss Australia Competition, raising money for special needs children. She became Miss Mid North Coast and won a trip to New Zealand with many other women, some of who became lifelong friends. The couple lived in Gloucester, and when they owned their own home, they had two children, Christopher and Elizabeth. Bev made sure they had the happiest of childhoods. Out of necessity, Peter worked away a lot when the children were young, and Bev never missed a beat. In 1989 Peter and Bev left their family businesses and moved to Walcha. Bev often said that moving to Walcha was such a blessing as they could send their children to private school without boarding them. It was one of Bev’s proudest achievements and a huge financial obligation, especially when the couple had just started out in business independently. Bev was an active member of parent committees, always helping with fundraising, soup kitchens, and donating a bulldozer to build a sports field. She was also very involved in many committees in the Walcha community and always on around to lend a helping hand. Whilst being an amazing mother, Bev was helping Peter grow the logging business operating around Walcha and Armidale. She was proud to supply timber to her cousin Leonard at Fenning Timbers, and like Leonard, she always strived for the highest ratings possible, especially in safety. The logging business grew and employed over 20 people at its peak; however, unfortunately, due to a change in government legislation, the Betts’ needed to change the direction of their business. They ventured into interstate highway trucks, which was quite different from what they had known. Family life changed again with Peter working away on the highway and Bev often fulfilling the role of both mum and dad. The business grew and grew through the equal effort of Peter with his brawn and Bev with her brains. An intelligent woman, Bev had an incredible tenacity in business, and she never left any stone unturned. She had an incredible knack for numbers and could remember phone numbers, Medicare numbers, tax file numbers and would always find patterns in numbers. Bev moved into the operation side of the business, and this was where she really shined. There wasn’t much mobile service around Walcha, so she was quite housebound but often managed to rearrange her life to not miss out on too much, for example hosting share club meetings at home. Bev ran Betts Transport for so many years on a limited cash flow that necessitated quite extreme measures, often driving many hours during the night to get the paperwork to make sure the invoice could be sent out the following day to be paid as soon as possible. She would try so hard to make sure everything went like clockwork, from checking in where the drivers were at 7am for the roll call to never giving up on finding a load at the end of the day. It was through this extraordinary effort that the business has grown to what it is today. Her passion for road transport is evident within the legacy she helped to create and maintain, on occasion at government level, often a voice for those who struggled to find theirs. Bev also created a beautiful garden that started as a paddock and maintained a neat and tidy truck yard. Bev regularly walked up and down the road picking up rubbish, and there was never a thistle in the paddock – she was chipping thistles right up until going into hospital. Bev was always so proud of both her children, but her greatest pride was her grandchildren. She was an amazing mother, but grandmothering her five grandchildren (Max Tilly, Oliver, Poppy, and Ava) was where she really excelled. She was so involved with everything they did and made them feel so so loved. She even changed her name from Bev to BB – and that included signing off on business emails – she really embraced her role as a grandma. Bev loved to take the children down to do the Walcha river walk and to have a hot chocolate at Graze, followed by a trip to the newsagent to spoil them with something they would not have needed. She even did craft sessions at their school and gardening lessons in the garden with the birds, which they all loved so much. Anytime anyone at all needed help, Bev always seemed to know what to do. She had an incredible sense of community and was also charitable and generous. She would support any community organisation or charity, but it was the individual acts of kindness that really meant so much to so many. Many people speak of the kindness she showed and how she made them feel. Often, even though they may have felt terrible, they always felt better and more positive after a conversation with Bev. Bev cherished her friends and was always a great communicator and organiser. She loved organizing lunches and get-togethers and never let a birthday go by unnoticed, including anyone from employees and their families to extended family and friends. She never wasted a single moment of her life and was always busy and active; she hardly ever sat down. Bev’s peacefulness came through her strong faith and strong relationship with her church family, which she cherished. She was a true believer in the Lord Jesus Christ and was certain that she was to be in a better place and have eternal life when leaving this earth. Bev was always smiling and happy, and even throughout her illness, the only time she ever cried was happy tears to say how grateful she was that it was her and not her children. Many people were surprised with how sick Bev was recently as she never showed what she was battling on the inside and was always so positive. Bev was always so grateful for any treatment she was able to receive. It was only a short period that she was unwell and Bev left the world gracefully and peacefully, with family by her side. Bev is survived by her husband Peter, daughter Elizabeth and son-in-law Lockyer Rogers, son Christopher and daughter-in-law Sarah Betts, and grandchildren Max, Tilly, Oliver, Poppy, and Ava. Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content: