Obituary of Betty Leona Hyam

   Betty Leona Hyam (née Keeping) was born at Lady Grey Hospital in Nipawin, SK, to Kenneth and Agnes Keeping. The eldest of five children, she grew up on the family homestead north of Garrick, SK. She was homeschooled by her mother for her first three years and then attended Linkwood School for grades four through eight, where her mother taught during that first year. For high school she boarded with her grandmother in Codette and rode the bus to Nipawin Composite School, returning home for her Grade 12 once Garrick gained a high school teacher of its own.

   Betty attended the Saskatoon Teachers' College and began her teaching career at a one-room school in Torch River. Having won a scholarship, she returned to the University of Saskatchewan and earned her Bachelor of Education with Distinction. She went on to teach for several years in Rosetown before resigning to tour Europe with her dear friend Joan. On her return, she stepped in mid-year to teach Grade 8 in Nipawin, and soon after took over the school's remedial program, work that suited her patience and her lifelong devotion to helping every student find their way.

   On December 18, 1971, Betty married Rodney Austin Hyam at the Nipawin Apostolic Church, where she taught Sunday school and served as the congregation's treasurer. She stepped back from teaching to raise their two sons, Kent (born 1973) and Shawn (born 1975), before returning to the classroom in 1980 as the Resource Room teacher in Codette, a role she filled until the end of 1995. A respected member of her profession, she served as president of the Nipawin Teachers' Association and was warmly regarded by colleagues and students alike. Betty loved to travel, sharing trips across Canada and to Churchill and Yellowstone with her family, and later journeying as far as England and Sweden.

   Retirement turned her energies to the family market garden she and Rod had built together, where Kent and Shawn had worked as boys and which Kent tends to this day. Betty baked and made jams and jellies for the Nipawin Farmers' Market, where she also served as treasurer, and she poured herself into crocheting afghans, embroidering pillows, drying flowers and doing other crafts, with a jigsaw or crossword puzzle never far away.

   As president of the Tri-City Horticultural Society, Betty took special pride in the flowers she and Rod grew at the farm, renowned for their gladiolas and lilies alike. Each summer they opened their garden for the lilies, and visitors travelled long distances to see the flowers set against the edge of the forest. One guest called it the finest display of lilies in Saskatchewan. Over cookies, tea, and coffee, Betty welcomed the chance to visit with friends and neighbours and to share the beauty that she and Rod had worked so hard to create. She also loved picking berries, a pastime she shared with her family for many years and kept up right to the end. She was still picking raspberries in the summer of 2025.

   Betty lived at home with Rod and Kent until June 11, 2026, when she entered the Nipawin Hospital. She declined quickly and passed away peacefully on June 21, 2026, with Rod, Kent, Shawn, and Shawn's wife Kristy at her side.

   Betty was predeceased by her parents; her brother Tom; and her sister Elaine and brother-in-law George. She is survived by her husband of 54 years, Rod; her sons Kent, and Shawn and his wife Kristy; her grandson Andrew, son of Shawn and Kristy; her brother Terry and sister-in-law Fay; her brother John and sister-in-law Lorraine; her sister-in-law Ruth; and numerous nieces and nephews.