Betty Obermeier
June 20, 1921 — July 12, 2018
Betty Obermeier
Betty (Phelps) Obermeier, age 97, of Green Bay, WI, widow of Clayton, died peacefully with her daughter Patty at her side on Thursday, July 12, 2018 at her home in Green Bay.
Memorial services will be held on Thursday, July 19, 2018 at 10AM in the Crocker Lutheran Church at Crocker with Minister Marion Grimes officiating. Music will be presented by Marvine and Fred Obermeier, Matthew, Mckenzie, and Ella Hunt, Pamela Van Gilder and Wendy Christman.
The readers will be
Chas Alan Obermeier -- John 3:16-1,
John, George and Joe Hunt and Jackson Neuman -- Matthew 5:1-12,
Emma Tracy, Kate Neuman and Anna Belle Hunt--1 Corinthians 13:1-7. Burial will follow in the St. Thomas Cemetery at Crocker. A dinner will follow in the Crocker Lutheran Church.
Betty Belle Phelps was born June 20, 1921, the sixth child of George and Lydia Stonebraker Phelps, in Sibley, Iowa. She slipped peacefully away from the arms of her family at her home in Green Bay, Wisconsin, July 12, 2018, aged 97, ready to "meet her Maker" and to be with her "darling husband."
Raised in Minneapolis, Betty graduated from Roosevelt High School, where she was president of the Girls Athletic Association and played the trombone in the band. Her father had died when she was four years old, leaving her mother, pregnant with Betty's younger brother, to raise the family in the coming Great Depression. Betty had to take over the housework while her mother and older brothers worked. The family survived their hardships with thrift, hard work, love and faith, habits she carried on throughout her life.
Betty spent her childhood picking berries on a truck farm, gardening, canning, riding her bike miles to bring home dairy milk, reading at every opportunity, and making do with a single dress throughout high school. Poor in circumstances, she remained rich in spirit, with an unusual mixture of innocence and shrewd insight into human character, tempered by love and tolerance. Betty forgave everyone and gave up on no one.
In 1940, she met a fresh-faced, but not "fresh," farm boy who boarded at their house. A shared interest in tennis brought them together on the court and in life. Pearl Harbor led to a foreshortened engagement. Clayton was reluctant to risk leaving a family behind, but Betty insisted, "At least I'd have the memory." Clayton "Pete," Charles Paul, Patricia Ann, Ronald Lee, Brian Alan and Bruce William Obermeier are grateful for the gamble their parents took and for having shared their lives.
In 1971, they bought the Crocker Schoolhouse in Clayton's ancestral homeland, turning it into a second home for their retirement years. They spent many happy hours there, including playing tennis in the backyard, until Clayton's illness interfered with that pastime. They also enjoyed playing golf in Clark just as much as on the Town & Country Club
course in the Twin Cities.
Betty also enjoyed participating in church activities, making quilts and socializing with the women. She was a member of the Crocker Lutheran Church and an associate member of Central Presbyterian Church in St. Paul. An avid gardener and crocheter, she made afghans, hats and mittens for family and the less fortunate alike. She taught grandchildren and great-grandchildren much about gardening
and
crocheting.
In addition, Betty often worked full- or part-time at
comptometer
(computer precursor) and secretarial jobs, having earned degrees both from comptometer school and as a Certified Professional Secretary. She was
always
a full-time mom to six kids who each received the attention of an only child, and she was equally devoted to grandkids and great-grandkids when they came along.
Clayton passed on in 2007, after being cared for at home by Betty and Bruce and a loving crew of caretakers lined up by daughter-in-law Michele. With the help of Patty, Bruce also lovingly fed Betty her every morsel when she became too weak to feed herself.
Honored and privileged to have shared Betty's life are all of her children, Clayton "Pete" of Pierre; Charles (Carla) of Las Cruces, NM; Patricia (John) Neuman of Door County, Wisconsin; Ronald and Brian (Michele) of Prior Lake, MN; and Bruce of Green Bay; grandchildren Kerri Neuman (Scott) Hunt, Jack (Laura) Neuman, Bradley Obermeier, Melissa Neuman (Greg) Tracy, Scott (Rebecca) Obermeier, Chas Alan Obermeier, Colette Hough (Tim) Auvenshine, Gates Hough,
Steve and Scott (Michelle) Dykstra,
Joe (Alyssa) Barker,
Natali Barker (Jesse) Evans, A. Marie (Matthew) Söderlind-Fisher, Kyle (Brooke) Barker, Lindsay Kinney, Grant Barker, Tammy McCullough and Aimee Nicholson
; great-grandchildren Matthew (Mckenzie), John Henry, Ella, George Clayton, Anna Belle and Joe Hunt; Jackson, Henry and Kate Neuman; Emma, Anna Lydia and Charles Obermeier Tracy; Nick, Emily, Matthew and Michael Obermeier; Gunner and Grey Benson; Amanda (Andrew Opp) Burcks; Dakota Mattos
(Jacob) Bellman;
Jason Mattos;
Axton and Joey Michele
Vandermark
; Judah, Elowen and Vincent Barker; Zach Dykstra; and great-great-grandchildren
Sawyer Opp and Julian and Jaden Bellman.
She also leaves sisters-in-law Marvine Obermeier and Jean Obermeier, many beloved nieces and nephews, and childhood friend Merry McLeoud Anderson, with whom she was in contact until the end.
Betty was preceded in death by her parents; her husband of almost 66 years, Clayton G. Obermeier; her sister Beulah Phelps Johnson and brothers George, Paul, Donald, Daniel, and Richard Phelps; grandson Todd McCullough; great-granddaughter Lily Susan Tracy; and daughters-in-law Julie Dykstra Obermeier and Linda Spencer Obermeier.
Funeral arrangements are with the Furness Funeral Home at Clark where there is an on-line registry at
www.furnessfuneralhome.com
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Betty Obermeier, please visit our flower store.
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