Today I received a phone call that shook me to my core. My dad called and said, “Auntie Beth died today.” I instantly broke down sobbing. Wait – she beat lung cancer and was in remission and doing great just a few months ago – what happened? Apparently, she died of septic shock.
Auntie Beth and I aren’t related. She doesn’t have kids. She’s a veteran telecom friend of my dad’s and has been a friend to our entire family for almost 40 years. From the time I was a small child through my college years, she would send me her famous boo-boxes at Halloween and bunny boxes at Easter. She said it was too hard to remember birthdays and kids got too many presents at Christmas. But Easter and Halloween were her jam.
The boxes weren’t elaborate. For Easter they usually included some peeps and a set of bunny ears. For Halloween, I would get a jack-o-lantern filled with trinkets and candy. Whatever their contents, I cherished them. They came from a woman who was a busy professional, but still took time to show me that I mattered. When my son turned three, she did the same for him by adding him to her recipient list.
Thirty years ago, Beth Morley founded Supply Technology. Not many women started businesses in 1989. Yet, there was Beth: a trailblazer who launched a telecommunications equipment distributor. I remember going to her warehouse and seeing shelves full of gear and people working to program phone systems and refurbish old equipment. It was impressive.
Beth was larger-than-life. With a hearty belly laugh and a huge smile, she made everyone feel welcome. She also had a little devilish streak and loved thinking and doing things out of the box.
I remember one year she asked us to participate with her in the Pasadena Doo Dah Parade. Known as the twisted sister of the conventional Rose Parade, the Occasional Pasadena Doo Dah Parade began as a grassroots event in 1978 to gain national attention for its eccentric and, often, irreverent satire. We were all bees. She, of course, was the Queen Bee. My mom, an avid quilter, was the Quilt Bee. My son – about three at the time – was a Busy Bee, and so on. We buzzed around the parade route and laughed non-stop.
Fun, Silly, Trailblazer. That’s how I’ll remember Auntie Beth.
Amy Bailey
VP of Marketing
Telarus
Amy Bailey is the vice president of marketing at Telarus Inc., a value-added distributor of network, UCaaS, and cloud services. In this role, she leads communications strategy and manages events, creative, and recruiting. Having worked in many aspects of the business, Bailey is able to bring a comprehensive knowledge of the industry landscape to communications outreach in order to provide targeted and effective results.
Bailey is a graduate of San Diego State University with bachelor’s degree in Speech Communication and Liberal Arts. While at SDSU, she also was Associated Students’ President. She is passionate about empowering women in business and enjoys participating with the Alpha Chi Omega sorority alumni and the SDSU Aztec Mentor Program. She is on the board of the SDSU OC Alumni chapter and also serves on the board of Women in the Channel as chair of the sponsorship committee. She enjoys knitting, hiking, country music, and spending time with family.