Betty R. Samson 7/25/1926 - 5/27/2022

Betty Ruth Mosher Samson was born July 26, 1925 in North Sacramento to Maynard A. and Inez M. Menten Mosher. She attended Grant Union High School in Sacramento. After taking an aircraft engine mechanics course, she graduated in January 1943. Betty went immediately to work at McClellan Field in Engine Repair. She worked until November 1945 when her wartime indefinite status relieved her of her job at McClellan. Betty loved her job as an aircraft mechanic and has always been proud of her work in the war effort. Betty went back to work at McClellan Air Force Base in Engine Repair in 1951, during the Korean War, and was later transferred to Dom Bay to work on B-29's and fighter aircraft. She left McClellan in December 1957. Betty married her cowboy, Stanley James "Smoky" Samson, on October 22, 1946 in Carson City Nevada. In January of 1952 Betty and Jim bought a ranch in rural Auburn and named it Spring Creek Ranch They raised beef cattle and goats. In 1972 they opened Samson's Saddle and Leather Repair at the ranch and operated it until 1996. In 1972 she began work as a professional housekeeper, first at Hilltop Manor Convalescent Hospital, where she became head housekeeper, and later as a private housekeeper. Betty was very active in the League of Placer County Taxpayers, the Placer County Historical Society and the Placer County Historical Foundation. She also served as the ceramics leader for the Long Valley 4-H. In 2015 Betty was interviewed by the Oral History Center of the Bancroft Library for its Rosie the Riveter / World War II American Home Front Oral History Project. The transcript is available at the Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front Historical National Park in Richmond and the Bancroft Library in Berkeley. It is also available on the Internet at http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/RPHO/projects/rosie/. Betty participated in several of the early rallies at the Rosie the Riveter Home Front Festivals. For many years Betty was honored to ride in a WWII jeep in the Auburn Veteran's Day Parade in recognition of her work during World War II. Betty was proceeded by her husband, Jim, and her brothers Maynard Jr. and John M. She us survived by her daughters Karri Ruth and companion Jim Ludwig, Betsy M. and husband Mark Andrews, sister Linda Mosher Turner, nephews Philip Mosher, Jerry and Darren Turner, numerous great and great-great nieces and nephews. She is also survived by many relatives in the Samson family who she loved like her own. No memorial is planned. Donations may be made to the Placer County Historical Society or the Rosie the Riveter Trust.