Betty Dean Day, 85, Minot and formerly of Flaxton and Belle Fourche SD died on Saturday, May 24, 2014 in her home.

Betty was born on July 13, 1928 in Dale Township of Burke County on the family farm near Woburn, ND to John and Flossie (Frazier) Paulson. She attended country school, moved to Flaxton for three years of high school and graduated from Great Falls MT High School. Following her graduation from high school, she returned to Flaxton and was employed at Farmers Union Oil Company as a bookkeeper and at the Schultz Meat Market & Food Store as a check-out clerk.

Betty was once married to Michael Schneider. To this union a son, David, was born. They later divorced. Displaying her character traits of tenacity and versatility, Betty salvaged an old farm house north of Flaxton and used the materials to build a new house for herself and her son Dave. In the fifties, Betty started a new career at the ASCS office in Bowbells where she worked for many years.

Betty married Gerald Day on August 7, 1959 in Spearfish, SD and to this union a daughter, Sheila was born on December 15, 1961 in Kenmare. Her son Shane was born on Dec. 8, 1963 in Spearfish, SD where the family had moved. In 1964 they moved to St. Paul, MN where they were residing when Gerald died on Mar. 17, 1965. Betty then moved to Belle Fourche, SD where she lived until she retired. In Belle Fourche, she worked in the Butte County Treasurer's office eventually becoming the Assistant County Treasurer.

Following her retirement, she acquired the house in Flaxton that she had built in the 50's, refurbished it and live there several years. Shortly after the View in Minot opened, she move there and remained a resident for the rest of her life.

Betty was a member of the Minot VFW Ladies Auxiliary, Flaxton American Legion Ladies Auxiliary and the Belle Fourche AMVETS Auxiliary. She also belonged to the Belle Fourche United Methodist Church. Her main hobby was sewing and quilting. She was an expert seamstress and sewed most of Sheila's clothing in her younger years. She also sewed the cheerleader uniforms for virtually hundreds of girls in the Belle Fourche schools. She also made wedding gowns and one time she sewed one in a day for an unexpected wedding. She designed and sewed the entire pageant wardrobe for the Miss South Dakota candidate in the Miss America Pageant in the late sixties. She was also an avid reader and in her last few years she listened to many audio books because of her poor eyesight.

Betty's loving family includes her children: David (Suzanne) Schneider, Sheila (Steve) Colburn and Shane (Darlene) Day; grandchildren: Jon and Cassidi Schneider and Josh and Shandel Day; six great grandchildren; siblings: Norman Paulson, Wayne (Sharol) Paulson and Amy (Robert) Moore and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.

Betty was preceded in death by her parents, husband: Gerald, sister: Flossie Evans and brothers: John Jr. and Neal Paulson.

Celebration of the Life of Betty Day: Wednesday, May 28, 2014 at 2:00 p.m. at The View in the third floor Commons Area.
Interment will be at the Flaxton Cemetery at a later date.
Visitation: Tuesday from 2:00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m. in Thomas Family Funeral Home - Minot.
Memorials are preferred to the VFW Auxiliary Cancer Fund or to Trinity Hospice.