Someone stepped up for Betty Marler when she was a kid in need. And she spent her life giving back but never giving up on a kid in need.

She was a teacher. A counselor. A friend.

She was just a regular soul who had a building named in her honor - the Betty K. Marler Youth Services Center, a 40-bed facility for troubled girls.

She also had an award named in her honor by the Forum on Restorative Justice. It rewards kids in the juvenile justice system who have turned their lives around.

"She had this passionate empathy and love for delinquent kids," said her longtime partner, Kathy Bonham, of Denver.

She was thankful for people who helped her along the way.

"That's why she believed so strongly that one person in a child's life could make such a huge difference - because it happened to her," Bonham said.

Marler died March 9 of pancreatic cancer. A memorial service will be at 2 p.m. today at Teikyo Loretto Heights Theater.

She was born Jan. 16, 1943, in Omaha to Raymond and Jean Marler.

She grew up in Denver. It's probably more accurate to say she had a hard time growing up. She was an at-risk kid who ditched school and "acted out," Bonham said.

A few teachers and a social worker started working on her, persuading her that she should give college a try.

"She barely graduated high school," Bonham said.

She enrolled at Adams State College in Alamosa with the provision she'd be on academic probation. And then she began to excel. She became an outstanding student - for the rest of her life. She graduated from Adams State, then went on to get a master's in American history from Colorado State University in Fort Collins.

She taught in Jefferson County and New Hampshire.

She went back to school to get a master's degree in social work from the University of Denver.

She worked at the old Loretto Heights College, becoming a director in the federal Teacher Corps, working with adult ex-offenders and teachers in inner-city schools.

Ellie Greenberg hired Betty as her first employee in the University Without Walls program at the college.

"She had a knack of not only being bright, but knowing how to solve political, educational and personal problems," Greenburg said. "That's why she succeeded. That's why she was a good leader."

Betty also worked for the Colorado Department of Youth Corrections, serving as director from 1998 to 2001.

It wasn't just strangers who she helped. "She was always there for me when I needed her," said her sister, Nancy Mayer, of Lakewood.

She and Bonham met while Betty was working in the University Without Walls at Loretto Heights. She was her own woman through it all.

"Whatever people thought wasn't important," Bonham said. "How she felt about what she had done was."

She received a lot of awards - Distinguished Service from the Colorado Chapter of the National Association of Blacks in Criminal Justice, Judge Phillip P. Gilliam Award for excellent administrative services to kids, Social Work Achievement Award from DU.

She accepted them, but "she always felt the people around her deserved them," Bonham said.

She and Bonham recognized that their particular work was important to them.

"Neither of us felt that we were being cheated because the other was spending so much time working," Bonham said.

They socialized with friends. They fished - fly and bait. They traveled throughout Mexico and Central and South America.

"We had just come back from trip to Vera Cruz six weeks before she died," Bonham said.

They both retired July 1, 2001. And soon after, Betty was diagnosed with cancer. She underwent chemotherapy off and on for the duration.

In addition to Bonham and her sister, survivors include three nephews, a niece, a great-niece and two great-nephews.

massarog@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5271

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