Elizabeth J "Betz" Kaufman

Elizabeth “Betz” Kaufman went to the Lord on January 16, 2019. Betz was born in Glendive, MT on October 30, 1932 to Granville and Cordelia Russell. She joined three sisters and a brother. Together the family lived and operated a dairy farm in Glendive. Being the baby of the family, she probably let her mother and siblings do the majority of the work while she rode her horse Sailor.
Betz met Iven Kaufman, the love of her life, and promptly married him on April 30, 1954. The two of them worked hard at their first business, a Standard Gas Station. Soon the children came. She likes to tell people that she had 4 kids in 3 ½ years (no twins of course)! Following the four rapid succession kids came two more for a total brood of six. The family moved to Missoula in 1966 and settled into life.
Mom’s greatest joys in life was her faith in God and her family. A husband and six children can be a handful and didn’t come without some major ups and downs which she handle with the grace of an angel… because only a true angel of God could manage this bunch! She was very active in her church and took great pride in singing for the St. Francis choir. Mom enjoyed work, from her first job for a dentist in Glendive to her last where she worked for 21 ½ years and retired from Smurfit-Stone Container. While working, she was able to excel at her talent to make people happy. The “mill family” became an extension of her own family. There are so many things that mom took pride in doing throughout her life, she was humble and kind and took every day on with a smile and the determination to make each day great.
With so much chaos around family life, mom knew how to keep things light. She found so many ways to laugh and put a smile on your face. She taught us that putting laughter in your life is good for the soul. Anyone who visited with mom would get to hear her favorite jokes... if you've heard the Dairy Queen, Pillsbury Doughboy, and Burger King jokes, you are smiling now at the thought of her telling them.
Mom taught us so many things. How to be kind, caring, generous, loving and compassionate. She also showed us how to be strong through life’s difficulties. She taught us this not by telling us, but by showing us all of these things. She was a great teacher of life.
Mom is preceded in death by her parents, siblings, Marie, Genevive, and Arthur, her husband, Iven and daughter Cheryl. She is survived by her sister Rosemary, children, Rodney, Steve (Joni), Craig (Carol), Audrey, and Bryon, her grandchildren, Deana, Kelley Jo, Stephen, Cassandra, Aaron, Joshua, Little Christopher, Kelsey, Erika, Keith, and Big Christopher, 16 great grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews as well as several favorite cat Mr. T and furry grand pets. She loved all of her family with all of her heart.