Betsy McClung Pratt

July 2, 1924 - December 29, 2024

Betsy McClung Pratt passed away at age 100 at her home in Forest Grove, Oregon. She was born in Pasadena to parents Samuel McClung and Margaret West McClung (SPHS '12). She developed a love of growing things early on in the family backyard where they harvested many fruits and vegetables including favorites of hers:  avocadoes and peaches. She graduated from Occidental College in 1946 and took her first teaching job on the island of Lanai, Hawaii and later at Waialua Elementary on the island of Oahu. She met her future husband, Dickson Pratt, in Hawaii where members of his family had resided since 1828. They were married in July 1951.

The couple built a home in Kailua, Hawaii and subsequently welcomed two children. In 1963 Dickson was transferred by his company, to the San Francisco Bay Area. It was quite a change. They traveled by ship and arrived on a cold and foggy day in January. In Tiburon, Betsy took up playing tennis and crafting. Everywhere she went she gathered pine cones and seed pods for her craft projects as well as rocks to put in her garden. She was also a lifelong knitter and seamstress. Dickson's job next took them to Pacific Palisades near the ocean.

In 1976, Betsy and Dickson moved to Anchorage, Alaska. They enjoyed sailing, salmon fishing, and camping and Betsy grew gargantuan vegetables during those long summer days. They spent most wintertime weekends cross-country skiing on the local golf course where they had to avoid the moose. Betsy also volunteered with the very active Anchorage Women's Club.

In 1984 they retired to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho and lived in a log home on the lake. It was an idyllic place for the family to visit with lots of boating and swimming off the dock. In 1995 they moved to Portland, Oregon to be closer to their daughter and grandchildren. While in Portland, Betsy volunteered with the Oasis program helping tutor kids in the Beaverton schools. Throughout retirement Dickson and Betsy traveled extensively, visiting all seven continents and camping their way around the United States.

The highlight of Betsy's summer in 2024 was a 100th birthday celebration at the Oregon Coast with her family. She saw amazing 4th of July fireworks, got to take out an electric sand chair on the beach and made her first tie dye T-shirt.

Betsy is survived by her sister, Margaret McClung Thomas '39, children, Dickson Jr and Renee, and two grandchildren and two great-granddaughters. Her husband, Dickson, predeceased her in 2022 at the age of 95. They had enjoyed 71 years of marriage. She was also predeceased by siblings, George McClung '37, Samuel McClung '47 and Nancy McClung Brubaker '49.

Tualatin Valley Funeral Home, January 2025