Betty Wygant

As a result of current restrictions on gatherings, we are providing HeartStrings, our online sympathy message where you can upload a photo and write a note or share a memory that will be printed and given to the family. Please click here to send your support.

Betty Wygant (nee Youngdale), age 89, of Southview Senior Living, West St. Paul, formerly of Newport, went to be with the Lord on Tuesday, April 20, 2021.

Preceded in death by her loving husband of 58 years, William “Bill”. Survived by sons, John (Marianne), Dave (Madhuri), and Don (Cindy); grandchildren, Melissa (Bill), Jennifer, Saina, Reyna, Jacob (Erin), Zachary (Jenna), Aaron, and Daniel; great-grandchildren, Ephraim, Eleanor, Hudson, Odette, and Lennon.

If you ever met Betty Wygant, you understand why it can be said there is one less angel walking the planet now.  For us who called Betty, Wife, Mom, Grandma, or Great-Grandma there is a great loss.  However, equally great is our gratitude for who she was, and the role she played in our lives.

Pericles once said, “What you leave behind is not what is engraved in a stone monument, but what is woven into the lives of others.”  So how did Betty do her weaving?  She did it with her crafts.  Whether it was her award-winning quilting including blankets, wall hangings, and banners gracing the church sanctuary.  Or, the twenty-four hundred plus hats and scarves she knitted for the children in the St. Paul School District.  There were the many ceramic creations that blessed the family holidays and afforded special times with her grandchildren as she gave all of them a taste of the craft.

Tightly bound to what she created was the service she gave.  All the time as Sunday school teacher and school superintendent.  Organizing the kitchen duties for after church coffee and donuts, and the special events both happy and sad.  The time after church counting the offering for the day.  Her long-time participation in a prayer chain as participant and organizer.  Undoubtedly there are things she did we will never know about, but we can begin to see the beautiful portrait that was Betty’s life.

A mosaic of many things like the jig saw puzzles she always seemed to be in the middle of putting together.  Over the many years the portrait appeared on the canvas of her life.  A portrait framed entirely by her favorite bible passage, Psalm 23.

Especially, the last verse, verse six, describes her and her faith as we knew both of them, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

The family would like to thank the staff at both Southview Senior Living and Interim Hospice for their care and support.

Private family memorial service will be livestreamed Wednesday, May 19, 2021 at 10 AM below this obituary. If you have trouble viewing the livestream, please note that the service will be recorded and available for viewing later in the day.

In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to Newport Lutheran Church, Newport, MN.

While maintaining social distancing guidelines, we are now able to accommodate gatherings while abiding to a 50% capacity at the facility. The use of face masks by attendees is required at indoor events, and we will continue taking the necessary steps to keep your families safe. Expressions of sympathy during this time can be left on the condolences page available on the obituary portion on our website. We also encourage you to view the video tribute once it becomes available or complete the HeartStrings online sympathy page with the link above.