Bette Belle Smith dies; served MJC campus, Modesto community

Bette Belle Smith, a Modesto Junior College alumnus known by many as “Mrs. Modesto” for her extensive involvement in the Modesto community, died November 29, 2009 at age 88. Her memorial service was scheduled for Tuesday, December 8 at the Gallo Center for the Arts in downtown Modesto.
Mrs. Smith was involved in several local groups including the McHenry Museum Guild, Modesto Junior College Foundation Board, The Salvation Army, Inter-Faith Ministries, the Modesto Symphony and many more.
“Bette Belle was a community icon and a role model...the picture of grace and compassion,” said George Boodrookas, Dean of Community and Economic Development at MJC. “She led her life as an example of service to others. Her legacy will be in that example. The greatest tribute to Bette Belle will be the hundreds of community volunteers who will say to themselves, ‘I want to be more like Bette Belle Smith,’ and then act on it.”
 Mrs. Smith was born at home in Modesto on January 17, 1921. She and her husband, Jean, were still living in the Magnolia Avenue neighborhood that was the site of her childhood home at the time of her death.
 As a young girl, Mrs. Smith had a severe case of pigeon toes and she began ballet lessons upon the suggestion of her local physician in order to aid in correcting the issue. She eventually began to invite other children to her home to practice dancing with the ballet bar that her father had installed in the family’s living room. This began her love of the performing arts.
 Mrs. Smith graduated from MJC in 1939 and transferred to the University of California Los Angeles. The stone bench in the center of the MJC East campus quad was purchased by Mrs. Smith, along with her graduating class of 1939. In recent years, Mrs. Smith returned to the MJC campus to protest the construction of a proposed building on the historical site.
 Judith Lanning, Director of Workforce Development at MJC, recounted that, “Her memories of MJC when she was a student were hilarious and wonderful because she so obviously loved this place and all the people who made her time here so memorable.”
 Lanning volunteered with Bette Belle Smith for various causes over the past nine years.
 “She appeared to be everywhere, at almost every major event, and did so very  much for the children of our county, the elderly, the homeless and the forgotten. Her energy was contagious and she made people feel that perhaps the impossible might just be possible if we all worked together and got a bit creative. That was Bette Belle. She never took no for an answer and never turned down the opportunity to make this community a better, stronger one.”
Said Mrs. Smith at a Rotary Club meeting in her honor in April of 2008, “Love each other. Love your community. Love your friends and everybody. Love the world.”
Gene Hill, Executive Director of the MJC Foundation, said, “Her dedication not only to the College, but to the community, will last forever.”
 

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