KING BETTY KING Betty King, beloved aunt and friend, passed away peacefully in Miami Beach February 23, 2020. While truly a woman of the world - working first in New York theater and subsequently living in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania - she made perhaps her greatest impact in her adopted hometown of Washington, DC, where she was active in government, nonprofits, and - always - in political life. Her engagement with DC politics began in 1972 when she returned from Tanzania to settle in DC. She worked for the McGovern Presidential campaign, the National Women's Political Caucus, and the DC Bicentennial Commission, and also consulted for other political and women's organizations. In 1978 she was a fundraiser and political organizer for the 1978 Barry mayoral campaign. In the Barry Administration, she was appointed Special Assistant to the Mayor for Boards and Commissions and later served as Deputy Chief of Staff to the Mayor and as Vice Chair of the DC Board of Zoning Adjustment. More recently, she spearheaded the Oral History Project on the 1978 Mayoral Election, now housed at George Washington University's Gelman Library. Born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1932 to Warren Griffin King and Katharine Elizabeth White King, Betty attended Laurel School in Cleveland and Miss Masters School in Dobbs Ferry, NY. She went on to Vassar and Finch Colleges. While in New York, she worked both in Broadway and off-Broadway theaters, and later administered scholarships and training programs for the African-American Institute. From 1963 to 1972 Betty lived in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, working first as the director of the Mozambique Institute, an education program for refugee students, then as director and chairman of the board of Continental Ore (Tanzania) Ltd. and International Gems (Tanzania) Ltd. While in Africa she also volunteered with the National Museum of Tanzania, the United Nations Committee of Tanzania and managed 17 regional dance troupes in the 1964 Tanzania National Saba Saba Festival. After over 30 years in DC, Betty retired to Miami Beach where she was active in Democratic politics, while also keeping an apartment in DC. She volunteered in many capacities and used her magnificent voice to record for the blind, with Washington Ear in DC and the Radio Reading Service in Miami. She also helped smooth the way for the launch of the wildly successful FreshFarm farmers markets throughout the DC Metropolitan area. She co-authored Descendants of Thomas White, Sudbury Massachusetts, Vol II (1992) and wrote Seasons to Taste Cookbook: Menus and Memories from at Home and Abroad (2012). Her greatest passion was her family and friends, always bringing diverse, interesting groups of people together around a table full of good food, wine and conversation. She was the loving, guiding force to so many and will be deeply missed. A memorial celebration will be held in Washington DC in early June. Those who wish to honor her life are encouraged to make a contribution to Metropolitan Washington Ear, 12601 Tech Road, Silver Spring, MD 20904, or FreshFarm, 945 G St., NW, Washington, DC 20001.