Bettman also owned Bettman’s Pharmacy in Dayton for 56 years in several locations. His first store was on Cincinnati Street, before I-75 took out the neighborhood. He then moved to a location off Salem Avenue and later to a location on Catalpa Drive in Dayton.
A Dayton Daily News story from July 12, 2012 says Bettman was 83 at the time he closed his store and sold it to Walgreen’s.
His friends remember him as a kind and generous man, but above all, a good friend.
“He just always had time to talk to you and offer an opinion, and always, always it was good advice,” said Bill Evans, the former executive director of the House of Bread from 1999 to 2009.
Evans said he would call Bettman for people he knew who were in need of help with medical prescriptions, and Bettman would fill the prescriptions.
“Joe never said no, at least to me,” Evans said.
Peter Wells, the former executive vice president of the Jewish Federation in Dayton, said he was friends with Bettman for more than 50 years.
“I think of him as not only a leader but a gentle soul,” Wells said.
Wells said Bettman was sort of like Mr. Rodgers – he made everything he touched in his neighborhood better.
“There was nothing that he wouldn’t do for the benefit of every aspect of his neighborhood, whether it was where he lived, or the greater Dayton area, or also for the Jewish community,” Wells said. “He played every kind of role possible.”
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