Beth Wright

On Thursday, July 16, 2015, at The Village Senior Residence, Missoula, Beth Wright, 95, passed out of this world to begin a new adventure.

Born Fanny Elizabeth Benson in 1920 to John and Ada Benson in Cheyenne, Wyoming, Beth graduated from Gallatin County High in 1938 and attended Montana State College in Bozeman. Beth married Edward K. Wright in 1940. Ed and Beth, with their family of five children, lived in several Montana towns where Ed was a teacher or administrator. These included the Tongue River Indian Boarding School in Busby, also Antelope, Florence and White Sulphur Springs. Widowed in 1960, Beth returned to her education, earning her undergraduate degree from Western Montana College of Education in Dillon. Beth later earned her master's degree from the University of Montana.

Through the years she enjoyed a rich life teaching, traveling and nurturing young minds in the wonders of science. Beth taught elementary school in White Sulphur Springs before moving to Missoula where she taught at Lewis and Clark Elementary for 20 years. Many summers she combined her love of travel with teaching science by taking grandchildren to places like the oceanography camp on Fox Island, Washington, or the dinosaur digs in Eastern Montana. For Beth, the Galapagos Islands were a natural travel destination.

After she retired from teaching, Beth traveled to Paraguay to serve in the Peace Corps helping to develop clean water resources for remote villages. Not one to remain idle, after returning from Paraguay, Beth became the housemother for the Delta Gamma sorority at the University of Montana.

An avid, long time supporter of Griz football and Lady Griz basketball, Beth rarely missed a game – only in the past few years relying on telecast instead of season tickets. She combined travel with her passion for Griz football by traveling to Japan with the boosters for the Mirage Bowl against Army. In addition, Beth volunteered to read for the blind, volunteered in the Russell School library, played bridge and, until she was 90, golfed. She was a regular participant in the winter bridge tournament to benefit the heart foundation. She was also a member of the Martha Chapter 11 of the Eastern Star in White Sulphur Springs for more than 50 years and, at one time, serving as the Worthy Matron.

Beth was preceded in death by her husband, Edward K Wright; her oldest son, Edward B. Wright and her granddaughter, Katherine Leanne Doherty, as well as her brothers, Gene and Robert "Shorty" Benson. Beth is survived by her daughter, Suzanne (Mark) Satterlee of Black Diamond, Washington, and sons, R. Dean (Leila) Wright of Billings, S. Thomas (Sherri) Wright of Kalispell and C John (Cathy) Wright of Warminster, Pennsylvania; her daughter-in-law Marge (Ed) Wright of Albany, Oregon; grandchildren, Mary Jo (Jim) Brock, Kim (Greg) Sweet, Scott (Diana) Satterlee, Daniel (Audra) Satterlee, Anne (Paul) Wright, Michael (Crystal) Wright, Elizabeth Wright, Sage (Ron) Joyce, Tonya (Jared) Rennie, Solana (Ritchie) Johns, Lyndsay (Chris) Coleman and Kasey (Steven) Greenwell; 19 great-grandchildren and six great-great-grandchildren, as well as numerous nieces and nephews.

Beth will continue to teach by donating her body to scientific research. A memorial service will be held on Sunday, Aug. 2, at The Village Senior Residence, 2815 Old Fort Road, Missoula from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Edward B. Wright Center for Computer Science Scholarship Endowment at Western Oregon University, Cancer research, or charity of your choice.
Read Beth Wright's Obituary and Guestbook on www.missoulafuneralhomes.com.