Walt Betley (1921–2020) lived a wonderful life, and was a great friend to woodturners from around the globe. He passed away just a few days ago, and he will be greatly missed.
Walt was my neighbor from across the street, and I met him the day we were moving into our house in mid-1996. He saw my tablesaw coming out of the moving truck, and made a bee-line over to meet my husband.
"What kind of woodworking do you do?" he asked my husband.
"None - the woodworking equipment is my wife's," my spouse responded.
From that day on, Walt took a sincere interest in my adventures with woodworking - first with furniture making, and within a couple of years after meeting Walt, woodturning. I took up woodturning on Christmas day, 1998. I had been interested before that, and Walt was kind enough to show me how the tools work, and to introduce me to the Central Ohio Woodturners, our local AAW chapter. Walt was a charter member of the club, and one of the recipients of the club's lifetime member award.
Walt started turning when he was 11 years old. That gave him about 64 years turning experience when we first met. One could not ask for a better neighbor in terms of mentoring. For the first year of my turning life, every project I made was walked across the street so Walt could give me a critique. It made for a fast learning curve, and I certainly gave Walt a lot of credit for getting me started in this wonderful field of art and craft.
Walt was a retired Army colonel, and my kids grew up knowing him as Colonel Betley. He served in World War II, the Korean conflict, and the Vietnam War. During the past decade, he was our resident veteran celebrity for the local Independence Day parade. His nephew would drive him in a WWII jeep near the front of the parade. Walt knew so many people, that the jeep had to zigzag down the route so he could say hello to all his friends.
One could not have met a more loveable guy than Walt. He was always willing to help the club, his church, and his friends. We can only aspire to live such a successful and fruitful life. Rest in peace, Walt.
Here are some of my photos of Walt through the years:
