Betty Jean Pyle

ANNOUNCEMENT: Due to the impending weather, this service has been cancelled. We will keep this site updated with information.


Betty Jean Pyle, ne Thompson, age 95, died on Wednesday, September 18, 2019, at Pelican Valley Senior Living in Pelican Rapids, Minnesota.

Betty Jean was born with her identical twin Betty Lou on September 28, 1923, in Aneta, ND to Lawrence and Bertha Roisland Thompson. The twins were the talk of the town; such small preemies (1.75 lbs and 2.5 lbs respectively) surviving and thriving in a near-frontier environment was unheard of at the time.

After graduating high school in West Fargo, ND and working at Armour & Co., Betty Jean married Harvey Aldrigh Pyle on October 4, 1943. They lived in Denver and then Savannah, GA while he served in the Air Force; when he was discharged in 1945 they returned with their firstborn, Doris Jean, to North Dakota. Their first son, Harvey, was born in Fargo in 1948. In 1955, they purchased a lot and built their first house in Fargo, and later, when Harvey was transferred by his employer, they moved to suburban Chicago where they had three more children, Lester, Diane and Ernie. After working in a variety of offices in the area, Betty Jean returned with Harvey to Fargo. Betty Jean worked at Western States Life Insurance until she retired to their home at Lake Lizzie near Pelican Rapids. She and Harvey wintered in the Fort Myers, FL area. After Harvey's death, Betty lived with Francis Moll of Fort Myers Beach until she returned to Pelican Rapids this year.

Betty Jean was a busy, active woman her entire life, working full-time while raising five children and engaging in community life. Betty Jean served various Lutheran women's auxiliaries as president, secretary, and treasurer. She was a member of the Fargo chapter of the National Organization for Women, and was a founder, board member, and officer of both the Agassiz Women's Political Caucus and the Women's Network of the Red River Valley. A life-long Democrat and feminist, she was politically knowledgeable and active in encouraging political engagement and discussion, and lobbying for women's rights at the state and federal levels.

She enjoyed singing in church choirs and with Sweet Adelines International; after retiring she sang in music concerts and acted in amateur theater productions. She was an avid bridge player all of her life, playing social and duplicate bridge. And while she did not enjoy cooking, she was stalwart in providing her family with home-grown and canned vegetables, fruits, jellies, and homemade bread and rolls. Visitors were treated as family members, while her home occasionally served as a refuge or second home to her children's friends.

Betty was preceded in death by her brother, Lawrence "Bub" Thompson and her son, Harvey A. Pyle. She is survived by two sisters, four children and children-in-law, nine grand-children and seven great-grandchildren, as well as countless other friends and loved ones.

There will be a private service next July for the family and a public memorial service on October 12, 2019.

Memorials may be sent to Women Candidate Development Coalition, 550 Rice Street, St. Paul, MN 55103: www.givemn.org/organization/Women-Candidate-Development-Coalition or Pelican Valley Senior Living, 211 E. Mill Ave., Pelican Rapids, MN 56572.