ForeverMissed
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Her Life

Elisabeth Misner

November 1, 2020
One thing that would tell you a lot about Elisabeth is that she transitioned from being called Beth to being called Elisabeth.  She did that because she said that Beth means "house" and "Elisabeth" means "house of God." 

She is survived by her husband of 31 years, Ivan Misner and her three children, Ashley Misner, Dorian Prin, and Trey Misner Tempest.  

She was born on June 13th, 1964, in Fort Worth, Texas to John and Mary Prevo.  She was the eldest of three children.  Her brother is Jon Prevo and her sister is Tammy Prevo.

She obtained both a Bachelor's degree and a Masters degree in theology.  She was later ordained as a Christian minister. 

Elisabeth started her career as a chiropractic assistant where she met her husband, Ivan Misner.  She left that field to work for BNI where she served in many roles.  She was a Regional Director for the largest region of BNI for several years.  She helped to write all the manuals for every role in the organization.  She then transitioned to the Marketing Director handling PR and marketing for the organization.  Later, she became the Co-Founder of the BNI Foundation and helped to raise millions of dollars for children and education all around the world.  When she stepped down from a formal role in BNI she was made Vice Chair Emeritus to reflect her many years of service to the organization. 

While raising three children she obtained a black belt in Shotokan Karate and went on to study Tai Chi and later become a Qigong Master teaching at the Austin Spa Resort in Texas.  However, she would say that the most important job in life was that of "mom."  She loved being a mom and she loved her three children immensely. 

She also loved reading, writing, painting, drawing, quilting, scrapbooking, speaking, decorating homes, fine art, wine, astronomy, meditation, and reading (it's in twice because she read a lot!).  She spoke three languages (Spanish, German, and French) and she knew sign language and a little Japanese.  She was truly a life-long learner.

She loved animals and flowers (especially bluebonnets).  She was incredibly excited every Spring because the bluebonnets of Texas would start to bloom.  She also loved Lavender oils and Rose scents.  She especially loved Texas and no matter where she lived at the time, she always told people she was from Texas.  Texas was her home wherever she resided.  She was incredibly happy to come back to Texas for the last six years of her life.  

She did a Tedx talk in 2020 entitled "Saved by Rage."  Elisabeth also contributed to many books and wrote several, including Jesus and the Secret and Healing Begins in the Kitchen. Her last book, written during her illness and published just before her passing was titled: Called Out of the Church, 7 Steps to Living Beyond the Cross.   This was a very difficult book for her to write.  It is a parable about a woman's journey in the church and was the most heart wrenching book she ever wrote.  

In the last few years of her life she called herself a "Lovetarian."  She loved people and she loved life.  Anyone who knew her, knew this to be true.  She was a gentle, loving soul who will be missed by everyone who knew her well.   

The world is a little less perfect without her in it.

In Lieu of flowers, the family would prefer donations to the BNI Foundation.

P
lease feel free to leave a tribute message here sharing some thoughts you have about Elisabeth. 

Love at First Date

November 19, 2020
Someone recently asked me how I knew Elisabeth was my soulmate when we first went out.  I’ve told the story many times and I cover it a bit in the book, Givers Gain, but I don’t think I’ve ever written it down as one story so here it is:

I first met Elisabeth in 1986.  It was at a Leadership Team training I conducted in LA.  I remember meeting her vividly.  She was young (23) and very motivated and I could see why the group elected her the President.  I also recognized that she was very smart and she was… gorgeous.  Although I was undeniably attracted to her – I was also in a relationship and didn’t connect with her again for two years.  In that time, unbeknownst to me, she moved from LA to Prescott, Arizona (many hours away).   I was scheduled to speak in Phoenix (about 2 – 3 hours from (Prescott) and out of the blue she called me.  Now (1988), I was no longer in that relationship and when she called, she said, “I don’t know if you remember me but we met in LA a couple years ago.”  My heart pounded but I calmly said, “yes, yes, I remember you Elisabeth.” She told me that her chapter knew she met me and they asked her if she would call me to see if I would “swing by” Prescott to speak to their group – so she asked me that question.  I knew I couldn’t just “swing by.”  I knew it was an overnight trip so I did something I have never done before – I said, “if you’ll have dinner with me, I’ll drive the  2 – 3 hours over to Prescott to speak to your group and she said “yes.”  That was about April or May of 1988.

Honestly, for her, it was a business meeting but for me, it was a date.  I could tell pretty quickly that she wanted to keep it professional and I remained a perfect gentleman all evening.  We spoke for hours.  Many, many hours.  I didn’t get her home until almost 1am and we had the BNI meeting that morning at 7am.

When I got home to LA the day after the meeting, I had a conversation with the nanny (Pia Jacobsen - PJ) who was watching my young daughter (who Elisabeth later adopted).  She asked me how that “date” went that I was looking forward to so much.  I told her that it was a "good thing that she lived so far away" and she asked me “why?”  I told her, “because if Elisabeth lived nearby I would ask her to marry me.”   She said, “are you crazy, you just got divorced – you can’t get married again so soon and especially after one date!”  I agreed that it was crazy and I told her I knew that I was a logical, left-brain thinker, but that there was something special about this woman and it was probably good that she lived so far away.  It would give me time.

Elisabeth and I then started talking a couple times a week by phone.  This was back in the day when long-distance phone calls were crazy expensive.  Beth couldn’t afford the calls so when she wanted to talk she would call me and we’d hang up immediately and I’d call her back because she didn’t make enough money to afford talking long. And I of course, called her directly a lot. We saw each other in person a couple times over the next seven months but the relationship was almost exclusively by phone.

In late December, we were talking and she said she had just gone to a Chiropractor's conference (she was a Chiropractic Assistant).  I was still running my consulting business full-time AND doing BNI close to full-time.  She asked me for some “business” advice.  She said she had two job offers and wanted my professional opinion (as a business consultant) as to which was the better opportunity.  My first question was – “where are the jobs?”  She said "one was in Dallas and the other was in Pasadena" (close to me).  I immediately told her the best one was Pasadena.  She said, “but you haven’t even heard anything about the offers!”  I said to her – “I don’t know if you get it by now but I’m interested in you.  I recommend Pasadena."  So, she moved out in February, left the chiropractor and came to work with me in March, I asked her to marry me in April, and we were married in May,1989. 

While it wasn’t love at “first sight” it was, for me, love at “first date.”  We were married for 31 years. I don’t know “how” I knew.   I’m not sure that “knew” is even the right word.  It was something I “felt.”  And for someone like me, who values tangible information and facts, to get such an overwhelming feeling – I knew I needed to pay attention to it.  I'm glad I did. 

Ivan

Remembering Elisabeth (Beth)

November 12, 2020
By Elaine Betts
BNI Poet Laureate


Internal, external, beauty portrayed,
Beth Misner an icon, the difference she made.
Born to be caring, her reach far and wide,
Her heart full of giving and the tears that she’s dried.
She brought hope to many, she listened with stealth,
Her gung-ho approach even fighting ill health.
Our tears here of sorrow for the loss that we feel,
As Beth in her goodness has made the world real.
Her voice will be heard, it’s immortal for sure,
And we can bring volumes through the grief we endure.
Channel our sadness to live through her letter,
Foundation her passion for making life better.
She is the light and a beautiful soul,
Her memory lives on through her purpose and goal.
We keep her work moving as role model and mentor,
Harmonious journey with passion to center.
The love that she gave so freely abundant,
Will live on in this world and won’t be redundant.
Her bountiful friendships, inspiration and more,
The spirit of Beth that we love and adore.
Her beautiful smile that we’ve seen every day,
Those precious memories have not gone away.
Heaven’s angel is calling as she left us in place,
As her soldiers of mercy with courage and grace.
Elaine Betts - Go Far Consulting - P. O. Box 2184 – Danville, CA 94526
510-326-0763 elaine@gofarconsulting.com
© Copyright 2020 to present Elaine Betts All rights reserved.