Bets Stover
March 2, 1949 — November 20, 2025
Bets Stover died at her home in Hood River, Oregon, on November 20, 2025, at the age of 76.
Bets was born on March 2, 1949, in Cheboygan, Michigan, and grew up in Onaway and Long Lake, Michigan. She earned an English degree from the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor). She later pursued a Biology degree in Oregon.
In the 1970s, Bets moved to Seattle, Washington, where she worked for King County Juvenile Court, traveled, volunteered in the Galapagos, pursued ceramics and married her first husband, Conrad Wold. She moved to Goldendale, Washington and environs, where she worked with the Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP). In the 1980s, she moved to Portland, Oregon, where her work included Hospice House and later social work with at-home seniors for Kaiser Permanente, retiring in 1999. She created a beautiful garden in Portland, as she did everywhere she lived.
That same year, Bets and her husband John Murphy moved to Hood River, drawn to the Columbia River Gorge and the life it offered. The outdoors was central to their relationship and daily life—mountain biking, skiing, hiking, and time on the river, including whitewater canoeing. Bets was an early riser and a thoughtful organizer who made room for others—planning visits, sharing trail ideas and books, and always adding warmth, humor and gratitude to the ordinary details of life together.
John and Bets travelled annually to the southwest and travelled widely internationally as volunteers for The Nature Conservancy in Muleshoe and Patagonia-Sonoita Creek preserves. Bets devoted herself to the trails around Patagonia, Arizona, as a “Dirt Bagger” and volunteered at Borderlands Nursery & Seeds for native plant distribution. She continued ceramic pottery making and desert gardening, enjoyed birding and formed deep friendships there through art and hiking.
Bets is preceded in death by her husband John Murphy (2019), her parents, Jim and Dorothy Parr Stover, and her brother, Bert Stover. She is survived by her sisters Ann Tennyson and Jaye Stover, her brother Jeff Stover, her beloved stepson Lee Murphy, and extended family and friends.
A private interment/committal was held. A gathering to Celebrate Bets’s and John’s Life will be Sunday, January 18, 12:30 p.m. at McMenamin’s Edgefield, Troutdale, Oregon.