SCHMIDT, Bette (1927-2013)

SCHMIDT

Posted By: Karon Velau (email)
Date: 7/8/2024 at 07:32:27

Bette Schmidt
(June 19, 1927 - January 5, 2013)

Bette Schmidt, age 85, of Ida Grove, Iowa, went to be with her Lord and Savior on Saturday, January 5, 2013. She died at home with her family by her side after a long illness with cancer. Funeral services will be held 10:30 a.m. Thursday, January 10, 2013, at First Presbyterian Church in Battle Creek, Iowa, with The Reverend Kevin J. Freese officiating. Burial will follow in Mount Hope Cemetery, Battle Creek. Visitation with the family present will be held Wednesday from 4-8 p.m. at Christensen-Huffman Funeral Home in Battle Creek. Bette Lou (Christenson) Schmidt was born June 19, 1927, in Ida Grove, Iowa, the fourth of four children to Arthur Bert and Myrtle Ruth (Brower) Christenson. She graduated from Holstein High School with the class of 1945. On January 20, 1946, she was united in marriage to Richard Lee Schmidt. They were married by the Rev. Albert C. J. Kellow in the First Presbyterian Church in Battle Creek. They lived and farmed north of Battle Creek. To this union, seven children were born: Dixie, Eugene, Richard, Jr., James, Susan, John and Bette Ann ‘Betsy’. In 1992, Bette moved into a house in Battle Creek, and then in 2006, she moved to a house in Ida Grove. For many years while living on the farm, she was active in the Ladies Country Club, having helped form this group while Betsy was a child in the late 1950’s. In her church where she was baptized with her baby daughter Dixie in 1946, and a member for over fifty years, she was a member of the Evening Circle, helped serve funeral lunches and Lions Club dinners, and furnished food for the annual harvest turkey suppers. She enjoyed beautiful and colorful flowers on the farm and planted many tulips, daffodils, four o’clocks, zinnias, cosmos, petunias, roses and gladiolas. In town, she embraced container gardening on her deck with hibiscus, petunias, tomatoes and a variety of cacti. When her children were young, she served many family dinners for birthdays and special holidays, and took pictures to record the occasions. She enjoyed attending her children’s activities at school, in 4-H, and at church. She loved to travel and took trips with her parents, her children and in later years after moving to town, with her daughter Dixie and her son Richard and wife Judy. She was preceded in death by her parents; her sisters, Eileen Brenner and Donna Christenson; her brother, Stanley; an infant son, Eugene; and grandchildren Rachelle, Nancy, Kristina, Jacquelyn, Randall and Keith Schmidt. She leaves to mourn three daughters: Dixie (Henry) Brueck of Battle Creek, Susan Schmidt of Des Moines, and Betsy (Marvin) Dettman of West Des Moines; three sons: Richard (Judy) Schmidt of Ida Grove, James Schmidt of Battle Creek, and John (Deb Wiley) Schmidt of Des Moines. Also surviving are eight grandchildren: Jennifer (Adrian) Chesney, James-Simon (fiancée Kim Haskell) Schmidt, Jared (Lauren) Schmidt, Heather Hill, Heath (Kim) Hinkhouse, Holly Hinkhouse, Kevin (Amy) Schmidt and Michaael (Lauren McCarthy) Schmidt; and twelve great grandchildren: Janel Guertin, Brandon and Courtney Schmidt, Hannah and Sawyer Schmidt, Taylor and Kayton Hinkhouse, Alexander and William Hill, and Sophia, Miles and Stella Chesney. Source - Christenson-Van Houten Funeral Services, 321 2nd St., Ida Grove, IA. 51445