Obituary index

Betty Behrens

[January 23, 2008]  LATHAM -- Betty Jean Behrens, 78, of Latham and North Port, Fla., died Monday, Jan. 21, 2008, at her home.

Visitation will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Friday at Fricke-Calvert-Schrader Funeral Home in Mount Pulaski.

Her funeral will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at Latham Methodist Church, with the Rev. Kevin Treptow and Bill Shanle officiating.

Burial will be in Lake Bank Cemetery.

Mrs. Behrens was a retired educator and farm owner. She had been a librarian, teacher, counselor and head teacher. She retired from the Mount Pulaski School District in May of 1993. She and her husband also owned and operated Behrens TV and Appliance for many years.

She was born Nov. 27, 1929, in Logan County to Albert and Florence Fuhrwerk Reiterman. She married Edwin Kenneth Behrens of Middletown on June 26, 1948, in Latham. He preceded her in death on March 9, 1996.

She is survived by two sons, Michael Lynn Behrens of Latham and Roger (and Melva) Behrens of Mount Pulaski; a brother-in-law, Farris Cowan of Mount Pulaski; three grandchildren, Nicole Clark of Tremont, Ryan (and Amy) Osborn of Loudon, Tenn., and Jeffrey (and Lindsey) Osborn of Decatur; and a great-granddaughter, Kylee Jane Osborn of Loudon, Tenn.

She was also preceded in death by her parents; three sisters, Fernola Reiterman (and Wilbur Seefeldt), Florence Stogdell Garrison (and Verne) and Pauline Stogdell Cowan; and three brothers, Eugene (and Edna) Reiterman and Harold (and Sandra) Reiterman and Fred (and Jessie Ruth) Stogdell.

Her 26 years of teaching included 11 years at Birks Grade School, where she was teacher and principal until consolidation with Mount Pulaski. She taught sixth grade in Mount Pulaski.

She was a charter board member of PASE and helped write the bylaws for the organization. She was a past president of Mount Pulaski Education Association and a delegate to the IEA and NEA conventions.

She established the senior lunch program for Latham. She was a volunteer AARP tax preparer and volunteered at the Decatur Memorial Hospital Lodge.

She was a Sunday school teacher and organist for the Latham Christian Church until it burned in 1951. She became a member of the Latham Methodist Church, where she taught Sunday school and was organist for several years.

She graduated from Latham High School in 1946, earned a bachelor's degree from Millikin University and a master's degree from Sangamon State University.

Lincoln College accorded her the DAR Award.

Memorials in lieu of flowers may be made to the Behrens Family Computer Fund at Mount Pulaski School, to Latham Methodist Church, Latham Fire and Rescue, or the organization of the donor's choice.

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