News
ENLARGE
Betty Mitchell has been retired for 27 years, but you never would know it. She is busier than many people with full-time jobs.
The lively 85-year-old is full of energy and enthusiasm, and is involved in many community activities. Her main avocation is working with the Lake Tahoe Historical Society and Museum, but she has belonged to many other organizations throughout the years.
She has been a member of Soroptimist International of South Lake Tahoe for about 40 years and is a life member of the club, and in 1994 helped establish the Lake Tahoe branch of the Widowed Persons Association of California.
She also was a member of the Barton Memorial Hospital Auxiliary, served on the El Dorado County Commission on the Status of Women and on the city of South Lake Tahoe Open Space and Parklands Acquisition Commission. In addition, she was on the boards of the South Lake Tahoe Women's Center and the Sierra Nevada Council on Alcoholism.
While her children were growing up, she was involved in their activities, including school, PTA, sports, Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts, Little League and theater.
Mitchell was born June 4, 1922, in Yosemite National Park, where her father and mother worked for the company that became the Yosemite Park and Curry Co., a concession business within the park.
She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1944 with a bachelor's degree in social welfare and worked for Merced, San Joaquin and El Dorado counties and the state of California.
She and Tom Mitchell were married Dec. 5, 1943, during World War II and resided in Turlock for six years. They wanted to live in the mountains, and when Tom was offered a job as a teacher with the Lake Tahoe Unified School District, they relocated to the area in 1958.
Tom later became an administrator with the district. Betty was program manager with the El Dorado County Department of Social Services for 14 years.
The couple had been married more than 50 years and had two children when Tom died in 1994. Daughter Linda Jahn, 62, is a nurse and lives in Sacramento, and son Patrick Mitchell, 60, has taught in the Lake Tahoe Unified School District for 30 years. The family includes two grandsons and one granddaughter.
The lively 85-year-old is full of energy and enthusiasm, and is involved in many community activities. Her main avocation is working with the Lake Tahoe Historical Society and Museum, but she has belonged to many other organizations throughout the years.
She has been a member of Soroptimist International of South Lake Tahoe for about 40 years and is a life member of the club, and in 1994 helped establish the Lake Tahoe branch of the Widowed Persons Association of California.
She also was a member of the Barton Memorial Hospital Auxiliary, served on the El Dorado County Commission on the Status of Women and on the city of South Lake Tahoe Open Space and Parklands Acquisition Commission. In addition, she was on the boards of the South Lake Tahoe Women's Center and the Sierra Nevada Council on Alcoholism.
While her children were growing up, she was involved in their activities, including school, PTA, sports, Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts, Little League and theater.
Mitchell was born June 4, 1922, in Yosemite National Park, where her father and mother worked for the company that became the Yosemite Park and Curry Co., a concession business within the park.
She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1944 with a bachelor's degree in social welfare and worked for Merced, San Joaquin and El Dorado counties and the state of California.
She and Tom Mitchell were married Dec. 5, 1943, during World War II and resided in Turlock for six years. They wanted to live in the mountains, and when Tom was offered a job as a teacher with the Lake Tahoe Unified School District, they relocated to the area in 1958.
Tom later became an administrator with the district. Betty was program manager with the El Dorado County Department of Social Services for 14 years.
The couple had been married more than 50 years and had two children when Tom died in 1994. Daughter Linda Jahn, 62, is a nurse and lives in Sacramento, and son Patrick Mitchell, 60, has taught in the Lake Tahoe Unified School District for 30 years. The family includes two grandsons and one granddaughter.
Betty enjoys gardening, hiking, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing and sailing, and she is a history buff. She has been a member of the Lake Tahoe Historical Society since it was founded in 1968 and has served as its president a couple of times, but her major interest is in the museum.
She has been in charge of the archives at the museum for 14 years, where she keeps track of items people donate, such as photographs, letters and artifacts. She was involved in the acquisition of Osgood's Toll House and the Log Cabin that are behind the museum at 3058 Lake Tahoe Blvd., and is helping plan the Lake Tahoe Historical Society's 40th anniversary on June 14.
Mitchell believes in preservation and discovery, which is why she enjoys being involved in history.
Here is how she answered the Tribune's questions:
She has been in charge of the archives at the museum for 14 years, where she keeps track of items people donate, such as photographs, letters and artifacts. She was involved in the acquisition of Osgood's Toll House and the Log Cabin that are behind the museum at 3058 Lake Tahoe Blvd., and is helping plan the Lake Tahoe Historical Society's 40th anniversary on June 14.
Mitchell believes in preservation and discovery, which is why she enjoys being involved in history.
Here is how she answered the Tribune's questions:
