Betty Marler hadn’t been working long as a bank check sorter when she announced, “No way am I going to end up in a bank.”
And she didn’t, noted her sister, Nancy Mayer of Lakewood, who had gotten that bank job for her.
Marler became a social worker and eventually director of the Colorado Division of Youth Corrections in the Department of Human Services.
Marler, who had fought pancreatic cancer for six years, died at her home on March 9. She was 64.
A memorial is planned for 2 p.m. Saturday at Teikyo Loretto Heights College Theater.
Marler also once headed the Teacher Corps Corrections project at the Teikyo campus.
Marler began her career as a teacher, with stints in Denver, Jefferson County and Littleton, N.H., her sister said.
She began working with ex-offenders in what was then the University Without Walls at Loretto Heights College in southwest Denver, where the Teikyo campus is now.
It was her niche.
Friends aren’t sure what led her into the work but her sister said, “it was probably because Betty and I were both in trouble when we were kids – smoking and ditching school at East High. She knew about rebellion.”
Marler was considered an expert administrator by former colleagues. “She was a great believer in getting kids out of detention,” said her longtime partner, Kathy Bonham of Denver.
“Betty was one of the most knowledgeable people I know, whether working with the legislature, understanding public policy or program issues,” said Jerry Adamek, a former colleague.
He said she “was thoughtful, could communicate well and had a charisma about her when she was involved with kids or adults.” Adamek was director of the Colorado Division of Youth Corrections when he met Marler.
Because of her work with the department, the Betty Marler Youth Services Center was opened at Mount View Youth Services Center in Jefferson County.
“Betty had that a rare combination of intelligence, loyalty and compassion,” said Elinor Greenberg of Littleton, president of EMG and Associates, who worked with Marler at the University Without Walls.
Greenberg said Marler was “devoted to kids, regardless of the circumstances, past errors in judgments or disabilities.”
Marler “was never flustered or angry,” said Larry Holliday of Southfield, Mich., another former colleague at Loretto. “She kept her cool.”
But she was direct and “never afraid to raise the tough issues,” Adamek said.
Marler often worked 12-hour days, but when she did take time off she loved to fish for trout and travel to Mexico, Bonham said.
Betty K. Marler was born in Omaha on Jan. 16, 1943, and moved to Denver with her family when she was a child.
She earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Adams State College in Alamosa, a master’s in social work at the University of Denver and a master’s in history at Colorado State University.
In addition to her partner and her sister, she is survived by three nephews and one niece.
Staff writer Virginia Culver can be reached at 303-954-1223 or vculver@denverpost.com.
