Betty Sue Martinez

Betty Sue Martinez, 72, of Oregon City, Oregon passed away on September 22, 2024, in Tualatin, Oregon. Betty was born in Las Animas, Colorado on July 18, 1952, the daughter of Juan & Duby Roybal. She had four sisters and four brothers (two of which were deceased as infants) and there are a multitude of entertaining stories about their young lives. 

She attended schools in Las Animas, met and married the father of her children, Diego Martinez, and then moved to La Junta, Colorado in 1981. After ten years they divorced, and Betty never remarried. Her first job was as a Certified Nursing Assistant which she did for several years in different capacities before working at Ringo's grocery store in La Junta and then finishing her career delivering the Pueblo Chieftain throughout the La Junta area. Betty took extreme pride in her role as a grandmother and was instrumental in ensuring that they had opportunities to be involved in sports and other activities. Later in life she decided to further her education and received an associate’s degree in early childhood education at Otero Junior College in the spring of 2015. 

Betty was always a very extroverted person and thoroughly enjoyed being in the presence of her friends. Throughout her life she also found joy in gambling mostly by attending bingo and buying lottery scratch tickets. But she occasionally went to casinos as well. She enjoyed flower gardening and fixing up her home in La Junta. Betty was active in Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic church where she served in Circle 5 with other women. She loved to read and do jigsaw puzzles and in more recent years she found joy in vegetable gardening and feeding/observing wildlife. 

Betty is survived by: son, Paul Jason Martinez (Andrew Johnson) of Oregon City, OR; daughter, Tiffany Maestas of Aurora, CO; granddaughter, Saundra Maestas of Denver, CO; grandson Diego (Vanessa Gonzalez) Maestas of Aurora, CO; sister, Mary Alba of Lamar, CO; brother, Jim (Linda) Roybal of La Junta, CO; sister, Rosie (Pete Herrera) Alba of La Junta, CO and numerous nieces, nephews as well as many friends. She is preceded in death by her parents, Juan and Duby Roybal; two brothers who passed as infants prior to her birth; brother, Paul Roybal; sister, Josephine Ballez; sister, Fani Hockett. 

Celebration of Betty’s life will be held Monday, September 30, 2024, at 1:00 p.m. at Peacock Memorial Chapel in La Junta with Pastor John Dell of First Christian Church of Rocky Ford officiating. 

Online condolences may be made at www.PeacockFH.com. Peacock-Larsen Funeral Home & Arkansas Valley Crematory is in charge of arrangements.