Born December 6, 1925 in Morehouse, Missouri to Ralph R. and Octavia V. (Copelan) Lower, she married William D. Smith in 1948 in Pekin. She later married Eugene K. Saal on August 11, 1976 in Pekin. He died July 29, 1988 in Peoria. She was also preceded in death by her parents, two sons (William D. Smith, Jr. and Anthony L. Smith), and one brother (Leslie R. Lower).
Surviving are one brother, R. Richard Lower of Pekin; and several nieces and nephews.
Betty studied music at the Julliard School of Music in New York City, Bradley University in Peoria, and the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago.
She had worked at the Orange Memorial Hospital in Orlando, Florida.
Graveside services will be at 2 p.m. Thursday at Glendale Memorial Gardens Mausoleum in Pekin. The Rev. Carol Lakota Eastin will officiate. There will be no visitation.
Arrangements have been entrusted to the Preston-Hanley Funeral Home, Pekin Chapel.
