4 Works by Betty Gibbs Ventura
Title | Role | Year | Genre | |
---|---|---|---|---|
To Have the Peace | Author | 1958 | Short Story | |
Beyond | Author | 1968 | Poetry | |
Legacy | Author | 1965 | Poetry | |
Seed of Promise | Author | 1959 | Poetry |
Betty was born on December 1, 1922 in Salt Lake City, the youngest child of Charles Worthen and Florence Ashton Gibbs. She attended Emerson Elementary, Roosevelt Junior High, East High School and the University of Utah where she graduated with High Honors with a BA in music. She fell in love with and mastered the Spanish language early in life. In 1944 she went to Mexico looking for work to solidify her Spanish language skills. While there, Betty was called by phone to serve an LDS mission. After her mission, Betty was employed by the LDS Church Translation Department as secretary to the Spanish translator. While there, she corresponded with 2 brothers in Spain who were interested in the Church. They eventually converted and she married one of the brothers -Juan Subirats Ventura - on May 19, 1954 in Paris, France. Their marriage was later solemnized in the Salt Lake Temple. Betty was fluent in English, Spanish, and Catalan, and raised her children in all three languages.
In 1972, after Spain was opened for LDS missionary work and upon receiving counsel from then President of the Quorum of the Twelve, Spencer W. Kimball, the Ventura family relocated to Spain to support the establishment of the Church. The family lived in Barcelona for over ten years. Betty participated in the translation of the Book of Mormon into Catalan, was the Liahona Magazine correspondent, did genealogical research into the 1500's and immersed herself in service. She was beloved by the members in Spain. After returning to Salt Lake City, Betty resumed working for the translation department.
Betty and her family attended the Mexican Branch/Lucero Ward in Salt Lake for 26 years. In 1998 she wrote a "History of the Mexican Branch", and the photos from this work were part of the Hispanic Convention Display at the Salt Lake LDS Conference Center in October 2012. At age 87 after 3 years of writing and editing she self-published "The Jews of Valencia and Tortosa" which is based on research compiled from the National Archives in Spain. The final history of over 5,000 people, as documented by the inquisitors, is contained in this work. A copy of this scholarly book was donated to the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust.
Title | Role | Year | Genre | |
---|---|---|---|---|
To Have the Peace | Author | 1958 | Short Story | |
Beyond | Author | 1968 | Poetry | |
Legacy | Author | 1965 | Poetry | |
Seed of Promise | Author | 1959 | Poetry |