Betty Stephens Morgan, age 98, died on Monday, March 9, 2026 while under the compassionate care of Hospice at Miller Point in Mandan.

Betty Ann Stephens was born on February 16, 1928 to Emery and Joyce (Christensen) Stephens on their farm southeast of Hazen where her grandparents, Charles and Minnie Gertrude Stephens, had farmed beginning in 1900. Betty was the oldest of the family’s 4 children.

Betty spent her early years on the farm, where her chores included caring for the pigs and bringing in the cows from the pasture for milkings, while her younger brothers engaged more actively in the farm labor. She attended rural schools and graduated from Hazen High School as class valedictorian in 1946.

Following high school graduation, Betty enrolled in Capitol Commercial College in Bismarck. Betty’s instructor at Capital Commercial College lived in the same apartment building as the Commissioner of the state’s Game and Fish Department, and through that connection learned that the Commissioner was looking for a secretary. Betty was hired for the position, and over the following 17 years worked for 4 consecutive Commissioners. She left the Game and Fish Department in 1964, retiring as office manager. In the same year she was united in marriage with HR (Bud) Morgan, one of the Game and Fish Commissioners for whom she had previously worked.

Since leaving the Game and Fish Department, Bud Morgan had been working for the National Wildlife Federation, responsible for coordinating the activities of affiliate chapters in 13 midwestern states, and Betty served as his executive secretary from 1964 through the late 1970s. This executive secretary position allowed her to travel with him around North Dakota and the neighboring states. In 1969 she was named Conservationist of the Year by the North Dakota Wildlife Federation.

Together Betty and Bud shared an interest in travel, camping and many outdoors activities including hunting. Betty particularly enjoyed hunting sharp tail grouse, as she loved hiking across the hills and prairies. The two traveled to Norway, St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands, and even took an around the world trip seeing Hawaii, Guam, Hong Kong, Thailand, India, Greece, Germany, and England before returning home. They also did a lot of camping, improving their camping gear over the years, from sleeping on the ground, to a pop-up tent, to a motorhome and finally to a 5th wheel. When Bud and Betty retired, their first camping trip took them all the way down the Baja Peninsula of Mexico. Then they spent from November to May in their mobile home in Arizona for several winters.

Bud died in 1989 from heart problems, but Betty continued her interest in the environment, wildlife, and the out-of-doors. She was an avid reader throughout her life, and was the last surviving member of the original Bismarck Bird Club, where she was an officer for many years. Following Bud’s death, she broadened her birding and wildlife observing activities to include foreign countries including India, South Africa, Finland, South America, and Antarctica.

She enjoyed memberships in numerous historical, environmental, and wildlife organizations. She was active in the Bismarck Wildlife Club and edited the newsletter of the Teddy Roosevelt Group of the Sierra Club. During the 200 year observation of the Lewis and Clark expedition, Betty was chairman of the local Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation chapter’s Name Change Committee. In 2009 she was honored with a Star Quilt by the Native American community.

Betty was especially interested in western history and was an active member of the Fort Abraham Lincoln Corral of Westerners International. She edited its monthly publication, The Scout, for many years. To the end, her love of gardening continued with many pots of annuals crowding the balcony of her assisted living apartment at Touchmark.

Betty is survived by her stepdaughter Marlene McLachlan, Reno, step-grandchildren Cole McLachlan, Beth Liberti, Demaris Restemayer, and Candace Davidson, and her nieces and nephews--Lloyd Stephens, Betty Filby, and Zane Stephens, and a great grandnephew Jesse Coughlin. In later years Betty’s family circle grew to include her younger brother Eugene’s step daughters Kim Reuter and Robin Mcgurran.

Betty was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, her sister Ruth Hammond, both brothers Lloyd and Eugene Stephens, her step daughter Patricia Aaltonen, a sister-in-law Ramona Stephens, and a grandson Duff McLachlan.

Betty’s friends will be having a small memorial gathering in her memory in the Touchmark chapel on Thursday evening, March 26th at 6:30 PM. All of her friends are invited to attend. Per her written instructions, Betty’s body was donated to the Medical School at the University of North Dakota. Eventually her cremated remains will be interred in the Barrie Cemetery along the Sheyenne River in Richland County near the farm where her husband Bud Morgan grew up.