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BizVoice/Indiana Chamber – January/February 2017
I found a kindred spirit in Fort
Wayne native Betty Stein when I
was setting up our interview.
First, she threatened to “ply me
with M&M’s” if I visited.
Then she declared she was not a
morning person.
Her polite but stern phone greeting
also warned off salespeople.
And all flowing from a voice so
full of vigor, enthusiasm and
refinement.
Our interview took place on the 75th
anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor – an
occasion Betty remembers well – and just a few
days before her 100th birthday celebration.
Once we had properly chatted, I sincerely
wished this amazing woman had been my
English teacher or mentor. I also told a friend
I could only hope to have half her memory or
be half that sharp when I retire.
Family affairs
Betty has lived in Fort Wayne nearly all
her life. Her physician father and “almost
nurse” mother (she met her husband and
“bingo!”) were from Baltimore and came to
the area for his job offer.
“I was very fortunate. I had absolutely
marvelous parents and a brother two years
older. They took us to concerts, to the opera.
We went to museums,” she shares, which
ignited her lifelong passion for the arts.
“We were given every opportunity by
two fine people.”
During the Great Depression, Betty
graduated at age 20 from Ohio State University
with a bachelor’s degree in social administration.
She had started out in journalism school but
switched majors after the first assignment –
“going out to solicit an ad” – wasn’t up her alley.
Betty met her husband, Curtis, who was
from Germany. The young couple waited
until his parents escaped their homeland and
arrived here in 1939 before they got married.
The following year his job opportunity took
them to Dallas.
On December 7, 1941, they had called
the police after noticing the trunk of their car
had been jimmied and the spare tire stolen.
“We were standing out back with cops
when over their car radio we heard that the
Japanese had just bombed Pearl Harbor. We
are at war. I thought, ‘They’ve made a
mistake and we will wipe them out in two to
three weeks.’ Little did I know … Wow!”
Soon Curtis was off to fight in the war.
Then Betty’s mother died. She also decided
that her little boy needed a father figure – her
father. So she went back home to Fort Wayne.
Her husband returned there after
finishing up his military service and went into
business with his dad. That business is Stein
Ad Promotions, which is run today by Betty’s
son and granddaughter. She also has a
daughter, another grandchild, two step-
grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Teaching and writing
Betty was in her early 40s when she
“needed to think” and began studies at the
University of Saint Francis. One of the sisters
there steered her in the teaching direction.
She completed a master’s degree in education
with certification in social studies and English.
On the very day she finished, there was an
opening at Fairfield Junior High within Fort
Wayne Community Schools. Betty took the
post even though she really wanted to teach
high school. She ended up “loving the place”
and stayed for 13 years, eventually chairing
both the English and social studies departments.
Betty was then curriculum coordinator
at Memorial Park Middle School and has served
as a consultant since her 1982 retirement.
She currently goes there every Tuesday to
work on the newsletter and counsel students.
Reflecting, Betty offers: “I most loved
getting kids excited about learning. Getting
kids to look around them and seeing the world.
“I took them to a naturalization service …
and they were so affected by the people who
were so thrilled with getting their citizenship.
They learned more that day than they would
have six weeks with a textbook. Seeing what
American citizenship meant to people. With
things like this, how can you not love teaching?”
Writing has always held a special place in
Betty’s heart and she was editor of her high
school newspaper.
She started freelancing at
The News-Sentinel
in the early 1980s when an editor came to visit
Memorial Park Middle School for enrollment
consideration for his daughter; the two hit it off.
INDOMITABLE LADY
Teacher, Writer, Civic Leader Turns 100
By Rebecca Patrick
Business History
Retired schoolteacher Betty Stein
was honored in May 2016 for all
she has done for students in Fort
Wayne Community Schools and
the middle school speech program
(The News-Sentinel photo).