Betty was a great lady! I worked with her breifly in the 90's. We had a nice discussion about the "Welcome" sign. In the earl 80's, that sign had fallen into disrepair. Clark County had been getting numerous complaints about how it was a poor representation of the city. Of course, they had no budget for the repair. I received a call from the Clark County comptroller one day and worked out a deal to lease the repair to the County. The face was originally a C1 plex face and was replaced with a flat white face, re-painted, neon repaired, flasher replaced, etc. It was a nice little rebuild project that became one of the most recognizable signs in the world. I was priviledged to be involved in a small part of her life.
They say these things come in three's. We lost two other great Las Vegas sign artists this year.
Buzz Lemming also started at Western and went to Yesco after the purchase. He designed the Barbary Coast storefront, the Hacienda horse and rider the Orleans and many others over the years.
We also lost Raul Rodriguez. He designed the Flamingo storefront when he was at Heath among others. He then went on to become the most awarded float designer for the Rose Parade.
They and their contributions to the sign industry will be greatly missed.