Betty A. Kopplien

February 3, 1933 - December 22, 2017

February 3, 1933 — December 21, 2017 Elisabeth Annie ‘Betty’ (Quetschke) Kopplien was born in Corvallis to John and Julia Quetschke. She lived nearly her entire life in Philomath. Her childhood years were spent at the family farm on Woods Creek Road outside of Philomath; but the family eventually moved into the city limits of Philomath where Betty attended elementary school and high school. She graduated from Philomath High School in 1951. Betty met the love of her life, Wayne Kopplien. They were married in Corvallis on November 26, 1954. Once married, Betty and Wayne as newlyweds resided a brief time in Corvallis before moving to Philomath where they spent 60 of their 63 married years. For the past three years, Betty and Wayne lived in Corvallis. Shortly after high school, Betty went to work for the State of Oregon Department of Higher Education, located on the Oregon State University campus in Corvallis. Betty worked full time as a finance controller at this job, and eventually retired after 38 years of dedicated service and hard work. After retiring, Betty and her husband Wayne, took to the road with car travel adventures. They explored the Northwest, Southwest, and even ventured to the Midwest and the South with their automobile excursions. Betty loved to tell the travel story of once getting lost in a not-so-safe inner city, only to be escorted out of town by a local police officer who cautioned them with the words “Obviously, you folks are not from this part of the country.” During early retirement, Betty also enjoyed getting together with her sisters and her gal-friends to experience the ‘girl thing’ antics and amusement of driving to Winnemucca and Reno, Nevada to challenge their skills and luck with the one-armed bandits. Approximately 15 years ago, Betty suffered a stroke that slowed her down a bit. Car travels at this point began to lessen, but her nose-in-a-book reading hobby picked up full steam. Betty’s passion for reading was evident by a closet full of books that family and friends would regularly bring to her. Betty’s first stroke slowly took its toll on her physical body—but it never dulled her wit, memory, or keen sense of business details. The first stroke did eventually result in her having physical disabilities and limited mobility, but that did not stop Betty from steadfastly continuing on with a ‘don’t worry about me’ positive attitude. Most recently, Betty suffered a second stroke that she was unable to recover from. Family and friends will always remember, love, and honor Betty for her kindness, patience, independence, and perseverance. Betty is survived by husband, Wayne of Corvallis; son, Robert of Albany; daughters Julie Cone of Bend, Dawn (Tom) Lillis of Bend and Karen of Tigard; grandchildren, Jolene Lillis Briese, Carla Lillis Langford, Lacey Cone, Jason Cone, Kyle Kopplien, Dillon Kopplien and Desarae Kopplien; and four great-grandchildren, Avery and Grayson Langford and Sophia and Miles Briese. She was preceded in death by Fritz Quetschke, Henry Quetschke, Freda Leaders and Ella Hanion. At Betty’s request, there will be no services. A celebration of life will follow at a later date. Memorial contributions can be made to Santiam Evergreen Hospice of Albany.