Betty Black, also known as Elizabeth Irene (Black) Hassan, was born January 20, 1928, in St. Clairsville, Ohio, to Lynn E. and Dorthea L. Black.

Elizabeth grew up in Ohio, attending Glenmont Elementary School and Bexley High School in Columbus. Betty spent time at work with her father, Lynn, who founded and was the first Superintendent and Colonel of the Patrol. She enjoyed dressing up in a Patrol uniform made especially for her and riding police motorcycles and accompanying her father on assignments and events, such as parades and inspections.
Colonel Black didn't let just Betty tag along during work; he enjoyed traveling the state with a beloved dog, Arthur, which he bought from a boy for $10 during a fishing trip.

According to a newspaper account, Betty moved to Southern California in 1945, just one year after her father died. Colonel Black died on April 26, 1944, from a kidney ailment attributed to a 12-year-old gunshot wound from his days with the Indian Hill Rangers in the Cincinnati area. He died at the age of 46, with family and close friends by his bedside.

Betty attended, and graduated in 1946 from Marshall High School in Los Angeles. She lived in Los Angeles (Eagle Rock) then moved to Thousand Oaks, Calif., in 1962. She moved to the Jess Ranch in Apple Valley in 1997.

She married James E. Hassan, a Los Angeles City Fireman, in November of 1948 at the Fountain Avenue Baptist Church in Los Angeles, Calif.

Hassan was a Screen Extras Guild Actress during the 1960s and had parts in several movies, including Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds" and two Elvis Presley films. She enjoyed travel, the arts, theater, and participated in Apple Valley's Jess Ranch Players for several years.

She died August 16, 2005, at Kaiser Hospital in Fontana, Calif., at age 77. At that time, she had lived in Apple Valley, Calif., for eight years. She was preceded in death by her parents, brother, and husband.

Among her survivors at the time of her death were her daughter, Lyn C. Callison, of Carson City, Nevada, and her beloved cat, Pumpkin. She was buried at the Sunset Hills Memorial Park in Apple Valley.