Betty Jane Stephan was born May 9th, 1925, in Chicago, Illinois. Betty and her brother and their mother moved to California after her father died. She met Kenneth Mason when she was just a young girl and they lived on the same street. They fell in love and Betty got permission to marry Ken while she was still in high school because Ken joined the Navy and was going to war. She was only seventeen years old. Betty had to promise her mom she would stay in school and graduate.
After Betty graduated, she followed Ken around the U S while she was getting training before he transferred overseas. During this time, she was hired by an airplane company to help build planes for war. She was trained on riveting airplanes (she was a true “Rosie the Riveter”).
After the war, Ken and Betty returned to California and began their careers along with raising four boys, Gerry, Steve, Tony and Ricky. Betty worked as a grocery store checker, a bank teller, and financial secretary at a couple of churches. Before Ken’s death in 1987, they moved to Ventura to the Patrician Mobile Home Park. While she lived there, she was the “Sunshine Lady” whose duties were to welcome new residents. Betty moved to the Townehouse in 2018. She is still active in many activities and loves to socialize during our Friday Happy Hour. Congratulations, Betty!