Betty Vandyke

Betty C. Van Dyke, 89, passed away quietly on August 20, 2019. Betty was born near Everson, Washington on October 16, 1929 (the year and month of the Great Depression). She was the youngest of 11 children born to Tom and Julia Sebens. Both parents were of Dutch heritage. Her father was a machinist and her mother stayed busy caring for the family. Because of her mother’s poor health, Betty was often in the care of her oldest sister, Ann Slotemaker. Betty attended school in Lynden. She graduated from the 8th grade at Lynden Christian School. She married David D. Van Dyke from Lynden on February 22, 1947. They lived in Nooksack while Dave went to barber college in Bellingham. Their first daughter, Donna, was born while they lived in Nooksack. After Dave graduated from barber college, they moved to Grandview, Washington where Dave opened his own barber shop, the National Barber Shop on 2nd Street. They lived behind a partition in the barber shop until the birth of their second daughter, Bonita. At that time they moved to a new neighborhood on East Third Street, a neighborhood where they lived for 68 years. Their sons, David A. (Bud), Wayne and Robert were born while they lived there. Wayne developed cancer at the age of 5 and after a year-long struggle, he died. About that time, Dave took up painting and dry wall work in addition to barbering. Betty often helped Dave with some of the painting work for Van Dyke Painting and Drywall during the early years of that business. Betty worked hard in the home to care for her family and for her parents who lived nearby. She also picked grapes at times to provide extra things for the family (such as the family piano). After Wayne’s death Betty worked at the Kiwanis Thrift Store, Rasco’s Five and Dime, and later at both Walnut Grove Nursing Home and Hillcrest Nursing Home as Activity Director. Betty and Dave loved to spend vacations visiting family in Lynden, camping near Mt Rainier, boating, skiing and fishing with friends. In 1976 they purchased the “lot” near Packwood. That lot would become their retreat, their vacation destination and a “getaway” they readily shared with family and friends. Betty and Dave have been members of the Sunnyside Christian Reformed Church for 70 years. Her faith was very important to her and she shared it consistently with her family. Betty, along with her husband, has also spent countless hours volunteering with Red Cross and the CRWRC on disasters and rebuilding projects. She is survived by her husband, Dave. Dave and Betty had celebrated 72 years of marriage this year. She is also survived by their four children, 13 grandchildren, 33 great grandchildren and 8 great, great grandchildren. Services for Betty will be on Saturday, August 31, at 2 p.m. at the Christian Reformed Church, 700 N 16th Street, Sunnyside, WA. Memorials may be given to the Disaster Relief Fund of the American Red Cross or to any charity of the donor’s choice. To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Betty Vandyke, please visit our flower store.