Bettye Jean Berliner Gillespie
December 9, 1928 – July 2, 2021
Beloved mother, grandmother, aunt, sister and friend Bettye Jean Berliner Gillespie died on Friday July 2, 2021 at her home in Ogden, UT.
Bettye was born in Ft. Worth, Texas to Mamie Lee and Kenneth Berliner. When she was a child, her family moved to Utah, where her father worked for the Union Pacific Railroad and her mother helped raise many Ogden children at home as daycare.
Bettye’s legacy, one of the most dynamic, respected, and celebrated civil rights activists in Utah history, includes a notable series of premieres.
As a teenager, she challenged segregation when she and her friends were denied access to local shops. Bettye dedicated herself (and her family) to fighting inequality wherever it existed. Her great intellect, sharp wit and uncompromising spirit have made a lasting impression not only in Utah but across the country.
At the age of 15, Bettye graduated from Ogden High School. She then studied political science at Howard University (HBCU) in Washington, DC. She later earned a degree in political science, a minor in sociology, and a master’s in human resource management from the University of Utah.
For 20 years, until her retirement, Bettye was Director of Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) at Hill Air Force Base. Throughout these years she remained the only female EEO director at Hill Air Force Base and the only female EEO officer in Air Force Logistics Command. She was among the most senior black civilian employees at Hill for many years, where she worked for about 40 years.
Bettye and her husband were renowned civil rights activists. Together they fought for almost 50 years to break down racial, economic and gender stereotypes. They were both NAACP Life Members. Bettye influenced the lives of many young activists as the youth director of the Ogden NAACP. It served the organization at the local, regional and national level. She led voter registration drives and often went door-to-door with her own young children to register voters.
Bettye was actively involved in YCC (formerly YWCA), League of Women Voters and Habitat for Humanity, among many other organizations, where she served one term as president. In 1996 she was appointed to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Human Rights Commission of the state of Utah and was a founding member and two-year president of the Ogden Alumnae Chapter of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.
Bettye was the first African American woman to serve on the University of Utah’s Board of Trustees, where she served from 1974 to 1981.
Bettye said, “I don’t know where I got the energy from, but I also taught Sunday school.” She adored her third grade class at the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd.
Among her countless honors, Bettye received the 1995 Black Pioneers in Utah Award from the Ogden Area Community Action Agency. In 1998 she was appointed to the Advisory Committee of the Utah Civil Rights Commission. Non-profit award of the minority bar association; Delta Sigma Theta Women Make a Difference Statue; NAACP Rosa Parks Award and Honorary Award from the University of Utah. Over the years, Bettye has received several awards from Weber State University (WSU), including the 2013 WSU Salutes Distinguished Service Award.
In addition to her community involvement, Bettye loved spending time with her family, traveling – especially to NAACP conventions, Delta conventions, and family reunions. She enjoyed entertainment, music, theater, politics, her church and helped her husband with his impressive garden.
Bettye left Utah a much fairer, more inclusive, and more beautiful place than she found it. Her own beauty was only surpassed by her kindness, compassion and generosity. She was loved in this community and beyond. That love lives on through its remarkable legacy.
We will miss Bettye (aka Mommy, Mother, Honey and Gigi) very much.
Her husband, James, precedes her in death; Daughter Kendall; and stepchildren, Russell and Ina Raye.
She is survived by her daughters Shauna Gillespie-Ford (Matthew) and Deon; Stepsons, James Jr. and Bob Gillespie; Grandsons, Calise Kendall, Robin Perez (Mike), Erin, Robert, Missy, Jamii Piersanti (Kelly), Adrienne Andrews (Chip), John and Emmett (Marissa); several great and great grandchildren.
On Tuesday, July 13, 2021, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., there will be a tour of Myers Mortuary, 845 Washington Boulevard, Ogden, UT 84404 for all Delta Sororas.
A Celebration of Life will be held on Wednesday, July 14, 2021 at 1:00 p.m. at the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd, 2374 Grant Ave, Ogden, UT 84401. The tour takes place from noon to 12.45 p.m. The service is streamed live on YouTube. The link is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Uz1byZTKjg
Masks are compulsory in the church.
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