Los
Angeles County
Biographies
MARION PATTERSON BETTY
Marion Patterson Betty is a
prominent and successful attorney of Los Angeles, with office at 301 Chester
Williams Building. He was born in
Crestline, Kansas, August 31, 1893, his parents being Charles Henry and
Elizabeth (Patterson) Betty, the latter a representative of the Patterson
family of North Carolina. Charles Henry
Betty, a native of Illinois, was a member of the Betty family of Virginia. In 1901 he established his home in Idaho,
where he began raising cattle and sheep.
Both he and his wife are still residents of Idaho.
Marion P. Betty acquired his early
education in the grade and high schools of the state of Idaho and received his
professional training at the University of Idaho in Moscow, which institution
conferred upon him the degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1916. Soon after his graduation from the university
at Moscow he pursued postgraduate work at the University of California and for
a couple of years engaged in the sheep business in Idaho, a business his father
followed. Admitted to practice in Idaho,
he engaged in the work of his chosen profession at Hailey and Rupert, that
state, until 1922. In 1922 he came to
Los Angeles and formed a partnership with Raymond I. Turney in the practice of
law and in 1926 became professor of law at Loyola University, and a year later
became an instructor at the Southwestern University Law School. The city of Los Angeles has since remained the
scene of his professional activities and here he has built up an extensive and
gratifying clientele as a practitioner of law.
In 1917 Mr. Betty was united in
marriage to Miss Margaret Conway and they had two children, Robert Marion and Margaret
Elizabeth Betty. In October, 1929, he
married Rene (Smith) Willis.
An interesting chapter in the life
record of Mr. Betty has to do with his athletic achievements. He was the holder of the national heavy
middleweight weight-lifting championship in 1926 and won second prize in
national competition for the years 1927 and 1928. He was amateur Pacific coast champion
wrestler in 1929 and 1930 and was preparing to compete in the Olympic Games
when he accidentally broke his jaw. He
played football, was a sprinter, javelin thrower and broad jumper while a university
student and still matches his strength and skill as a wrestler with the leading
exponents of this sport. He is
commissioner of wrestling and member of the Board of Athletic Governors for the
Los Angeles Athletic Club, to which he belongs.
Since age conferred upon him the right of franchise Mr. Betty has
supported the men and measures of the Republican Party. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Masons
being a member of Utopia Lodge, No. 537, F. & A. M. of Los Angeles; Rupert
Chapter, R. A. M., of Rupert, Idaho; Boise Consistory of the Scottish Rite; and
Al Malaikah Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S. He
is identified with Elks Lodge, No. 66, and is a member of the Breakfast Club
and the Sciots. Professionally he has
membership in the Los Angeles County, the California State and the American Bar
Associations. He is also a member of Phi
Delta Theta and the legal fraternity Phi Alpha Delta and is president of the
Lawyers Club of Los Angeles. For
recreation he enjoys fishing and big game hunting.
Transcribed by
V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: California of the South
Vol. IV, by John Steven McGroarty, Pages 19-20, Clarke Publ.,
Chicago, Los Angeles, Indianapolis. 1933.
© 2012 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
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NUGGET'S LOS ANGELES BIOGRAPIES