Betsy, wife of Lieutenant Colonel Paul Batish, died September 6, 2015 at her home in Camden, SC. She was born June 3, 1978 in Albuquerque, NM, the daughter of Buddy and Judy Kay Rice. Betsy is survived by her husband; parents; and brother, Jerry Rice of Mesa, AZ.
After graduating with a communications degree from Arizona State University in 2000, Betsy worked in a variety of journalism and communications jobs in Arizona. She was a writer for a Phoenix monthly magazine, award winning newspaper editor, city public information officer, mayor’s chief of staff and communications specialist for Cancer Treatment Centers of America. After marrying Paul in Arizona in 2011, she worked as an award winning freelance writer and photographer at their various assignments in Alabama, California and South Carolina.
Betsy was an adventurous spirit who loved backpacking the Grand Canyon and flying over fences aboard Thoroughbred horses. She was an accomplished English and Western equestrian and a celebrated rodeo queen, among which were the titles of Payson Arizona PRCA Pro Rodeo Queen, Gilbert Days Arizona Rodeo Queen, and Ms. Country Western Arizona. Betsy was a great lover of animals, always kind and generous and thinking of others’ needs first, even as she went through the biggest battle of her life. The bravery, dignity and hopefulness that she showed battling lymphoma was an inspiration to many. She was taken much before her time and she will be dearly missed.
Donations in Betsy’s memory may be made to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
