Betty Louise Taylor

February 5, 1940 ~ June 27, 2020

Betty Louise Taylor, 80, of Overland Park, Kansas passed away surrounded by her loving family on Saturday, June 27, 2020. She will forever be remembered as a devoted mother, loving grandmother, sister, aunt and friend to everyone she met.

Betty was born on February 5, 1940 in Lime Springs, Iowa to Elmer and Darlene Betty (Brackin) Holtzman. She grew up in Waterloo, Iowa and attended East High School. A desire to help and serve others was at the heart of her life. The early 1960’s had her attending Allen School of Nursing in Waterloo and she would graduate as an LPN.

On March 25, 1967, Betty married James Craig Taylor. They raised three children together, Stephanie, James, and Jennifer. In 1977, their travels took them to Manchester, Iowa and Betty opened Honey Creek Daycare. She adored working with children and would continue working her daycare up through their eventual move to Newton, Iowa. In 1982, the family would settle in Olathe, Kansas and Betty would take on a position as a paraprofessional with the Olathe School District, working with individuals with disabilities. Betty was also a dedicated member of First Baptist Church of Olathe, Kansas and took great joy and pride in working in the church’s nursery. Betty and James eventually divorced but remained good friends.

Betty was goofy and loved to laugh. I Love Lucy and The Golden Girls were two of her favorite TV shows. She would do anything to make you smile and had a trademark mom dance that had her children rolling their eyes on a regular basis. Betty never met a stranger and enjoyed embarrassing her kids by striking up conversations with complete strangers in the grocery store checkout lines. She always managed to steer the topic to her children and loved to share pictures and drop proud mother tidbits to anyone who would listen. She reveled in her role as Grandma and nothing gave her more pleasure in life than the time she spent with her two grandchildren, Katelyn and Matthew.

Betty liked to keep busy and enjoyed reading mysteries and thrillers, working on puzzles, cross stitch, crochet, coloring, and crosswords. She had a penchant for pens and you could find containers of Sharpies, ball point pens, markers, and colored pencils throughout her house and oversized purses.

If “Luck Be a Lady”, that lady would not be Betty. She was ever the eternal optimist, always hoping one day to “hit it big”! She could pick out a penny on the ground at twenty paces and would always pick it up and put it in her shoe for good luck. Betty loved BINGO, slot machines, pull tabs, and scratcher tickets. She purchased at least one Powerball ticket every week, and promised to share her winnings with her family. She never hit the jackpot, but won enough to keep on trying.

Betty also occupied her time by being the ‘Gladys Kravitz’ of the neighborhood. She was very observant and took her job as neighborhood watchperson very seriously. She always knew who was doing what, when, where, and why. Betty has the ultimate vantage point now and I am sure she is taking full advantage. In the meantime, her daughter Jennifer will continue her legacy and keep an eye on our earthly adventures.

Betty is preceded in death by her parents, Elmer Holtzman and Darlene Henninger, along with her two brothers, Larry Holtzman and Jack Henninger. She is survived by the father of her children, James C. Taylor, her son, James A. Taylor and his wife Melissa of Gardner, Kansas and her two daughters, Stephanie L. Dunn and her husband Tom of Omaha, Nebraska and Jennifer A. Taylor of Lenexa, Kansas. Left behind to cherish her memory are her two grandchildren, Katelyn Taylor and Matthew Taylor. She will be sadly missed by her brother, Craig Henninger of Council Bluffs, Iowa and her sister, Kris Brown of Georgia.

Betty will be cremated according to her wishes. A “Celebration of Life” is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Thursday, July 9, 2020 at the McGilley & Frye Funeral Home 105 East Loula Street Olathe, Kansas. Visitation 5:00 p.m. -7:00 p.m. Thursday prior to the service at the funeral home. In lieu of flowers memorial contributions may be made to:

Special Olympics Kansas https://give.specialolympics.org/page/contribute/kansas19

Condolences may be offered at: www.McGilley-Frye.com