Sgt. Maj. Betty Noble salutes the troops at the April 2003 Salute To The Troops held at the Town Hall building operated by the Alpine Woman’s Club.

ALPINE — Betty Noble was a woman of whom the town could be proud; a woman who had served her country and her community all her life; and a woman who helped define Alpine’s history.
     Noble, who would have been 83 years old this September, died in Hilton Head, South Carolina, where she had traveled in late February to play in a Women Marines Golf Tournament. While there, she had been hospitalized with congestive heart failure, and then pneumonia, but had seemed to be improving. In fact, arrangements were in process to fly her home, but it was not to be. She died peacefully with Marine friend, Mary Edmonds at her bedside.
     An Alpine native and daughter of the pioneer Walker family, she was born on September 28, 1922.
     Alpine proudly pointed to Noble, an Alpine native, as one of the first women to join the United States Marine Corps in 1943 during World War II. Known for her enthusiasm, vitality and slim figure, Noble was still able to model the uniform in which she had retired in November 1968.
     

Young Betty Noble with her father and sister Suzanne.

     She progressed rapidly in the Marine Corps, retiring as Sgt. Maj. Noble, Headquarters Company, Women’s Recruit Training Battalion at Parris Island. 
     Earlier in her career, she had driven a truck at Camp Lejeune, N.C., attended NCO Leadership and 1st Sgt. Schools, and served as unit diary clerk at Parris Island where she had formed the first permanent personnel company for Women Marines. Moving on, she served at Quantico, Va., and El Toro, Calif., Washington, D.C., San Diego, and Camp Smith in Hawaii. In 1963, she returned to San Diego as Depot Administration Chief and 1st Sgt. of Women Marines Company before finally reporting to Parris Island.
     Her second cousin, Randy Schwartz recalls that four subjects were most important to her, "The Marines, the town of Alpine and its history and future, her own close family, and the history of the Willows area."
     Joan Waterworth, president of the Alpine Woman’s Club, remembers, "We always knew that she loved history and our historic building. She had graduated from eighth grade on our stage so it meant a lot to her. The girls in the class were wearing their first long dresses, a very important occasion. Betty played a harmonica in the little band organized by the late Hazel Hohanshelt."
     "She never forgot that she was a Marine. I remember that she’d wear her uniform on special occasions. She represented the 1940’s for the 90th anniversary of the club, just last year," added Waterworth.
     Born and raised in Alpine, Noble attended one room schools and graduated from Grossmont High School while living with her family, the Walkers, in "The Willows," a resort owned and operated by her mother, Dorothy Walker Noble Markley As a young girl Betty, like all the family, worked in the resort doing all sorts of needed jobs. After completing 22 years of service in the Marines, she returned to the same property on Willows Road and opened Noble Realty to began a new career lasting several decades.
     She named her home, "Noble’s Nest," loved her garden and often shared the lovely and unusual blooms she cultivated. After Viejas Casino and Turf Club was built, she often referred to Willows Road as the Viejas Freeway but maintained cheerfully that the heavy traffic did not bother her, as she was well insolated by heavy trees and shrubbery. 
     Never one to settle into a sleepy retirement, she enjoyed playing golf, a sport she had learned while serving in the Marines and especially loved participating in the annual Women Marine’s Tournament.
 

Noble was an avid golfer, pictured here hitting the links in Maui.

    She always saved time to be active in community life. Ever anxious to preserve her hometown’s history, she joined the board of directors of the Alpine Cemetery Association in 1973 and served as its president for many years. She was a moving spirit in maintaining and improving that property for future generations. Many of her family are buried there and she always made sure that the cemetery was kept in good condition.
     An active member of both Alpine Historical Society and the Alpine Women’s Club, she did whatever she could to keep her hometown a wonderful place to live. 
     For a number of years, as Sgt. Maj. Noble Ret. she headed the local Toys For Tots drive sponsored by the Marine Corps Reserve, insisting that many of the toys be distributed to the children in the Viejas Indian Reservation. She appeared as a retired marine at USO events.
     Pets were another of her favorites. Even in service she had a dog on the base with her. Named Freckles, the puppy served as chief morale builder and, in August 1952, was even promoted for his services from corporal to sergeant. At home, in more recent years, Betty treasured her cat, Socks. Gayle Hightower, who cared for the cat at the Karin Kennels, reported, "Betty called me often right from her hospital bed to make sure that Socks was doing well."
     Military graveside services complete with a color guard is to be held in the Alpine Cemetery Friday morning, June 3, at 10:30 a.m. where Noble is to be buried next to her mother’s grave. This is an especially noteworthy plot because Noble’s mother was actually the first baby delivered in Alpine by the community’s woman doctor, Dr. Sophronia Nichols.
     A reception will be held afterward at the Woman’s Club, 2156 Alpine Blvd. It will be hosted the Alpine Historical Society with assistance by members of the Woman’s Club. 
     At the time Noble left for the golf tournament, a May 21 Armed Forces Day dinner party was being planned at that historic building to honor Betty Noble for her service to country and community. It was canceled when her South Carolina collapse became known.
     Noble is survived by her sister, Suzanna Rodgers of Connecticut, a cousin, Don Walker of Alpine and a nephew, Randy Schwartz of El Cajon.
     In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the Alpine Historical Society, P.O. Box 382 Alpine, 91903 or the Alpine Women’s Club, P.O. Box 231, Alpine 91903.

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