In memoriam: Betty Hewitt

Betty Hewitt, UC Cooperative Extension home economist advisor emerita in El Dorado County, passed away April 8 at age 92.

After graduating with a bachelor's degree in home economics from Colorado A&M College, Hewitt served three years in the WAVES as a laboratory technologist in San Diego and Hawaii during World War II. 

In 1947, Hewitt began her UC Cooperative Extension career as a home demonstration agent in Sonoma County. In 1949, Hewitt became the first woman home economist and a founder of 4-H in El Dorado County, which is celebrating its 100-year anniversary. As the UCCE 4-H advisor, Hewitt expanded the program to serve more than 10,000 4-H members in countywide 4-H clubs over the years until her retirement in 1982. She also taught families nutrition, cooking, sewing, homemaking and personal finances.

“Numerous newspaper articles chronicling Betty's work and achievements, dated from as early as 1949 can be found in archive scrap books preserved at the county UCCE office,” wrote her niece, Lorraine Larsen-Hallock, an active 4-H volunteer and 4-H alumna. “Betty did not have children of her own, but always considered the 4-H youth as her children, to be nurtured through the 4-H program to help them become future leaders.” 

Read more about Hewitt's life at https://www.mtdemocrat.com/obituaries/betty-hewitt.

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