Camp Courageous Trail Blazer, And Among Camp’s First Board Members, Betty Wagner, Passes.

During the earliest days of Camp Courageous, Betty Wagner wanted to be involved in what was then called, ‘Camp Courage’ in Monticello, IA.  She came to Monticello in 1960, and quickly befriended and shared an apartment with longtime Camp Board Member, Mag Welter, a Monticello Special Education Teacher.  Betty joined the Monticello (IA) Express as a reporter/photographer.  She later became news editor, then editor and finally co-publisher-co-owner. Betty was named to the Monticello Hall of Fame and over her newspaper years, was a recipient of 79 state and national journalism awards.  Betty left the newspaper field in September of 1980…but it was forever in her blood.  Betty immediately hit it off on the Camp Board with Dotty Cummins, both among Camp’s first board members, and both having a very strong journalism background.  By the spring of 1974, Betty Wagner, Editor of the Monticello Express, laid out and printed the camp’s first four-page newsletter called the “Courier.”  The “Courier” has been as many as 40-pages, going out quarterly to as many as 25,000 campers and supporters.  Even though Betty left Monticello in 1980, she never stopped supporting Camp Courageous and she kept in close touch.  Betty Wagner was truly a lifetime advocate for Camp Courageous and she leaves a wonderful legacy in the history of Courageous!

Full obituary:  https://www.steedtodd.com/obituaries/betty-wagner