Elizabeth Martha, “Betty”, Schallenmuller was born Elizabeth Martha Mutz on July 4th, 1935 at home in Boston, Massachusetts. She was the middle of three children. She was baptized at 1st Lutheran in Boston and raised at Saint Luke’s Lutheran Church in Dedham, where she was later confirmed in her faith. Having grown up during the depression and World War 2, she can remember her mother going without food, so that she and her older brother could eat. From the time she was a little girl until she passed, she loved to play with dolls. She and her mother would sew and knit tiny outfits for her dolls so she could dress them up. Among her favorites were dolls from Germany that had ceramic arms, legs and head. Betty was fluent in German and kept in touch with relatives in Germany. She spent a few summers in Germany, crossing the Atlantic on a ship to visit them. She graduated from Girls’ Latin School in Boston in 1953, which prepared her for a career in Nursing. She attended Nursing school at Massachusetts General Hospital, completing her studies in 1956. Betty met Al Schallenmuller on a blind date while in nursing school. They were married on June 14th, 1958. They were married for 52 years. Al and Betty started their family in Canoga Park, California, where their oldest son Buddy was born. Shortly thereafter they moved to Fremont, California where Lisa was born. The moist air of the bay area was hard on Lisa’s lungs, so they moved to Littleton, Colorado where Eric was born. Once the kids were all school-age, Betty worked as a nurse in an OB/GYN office and became close friends with the staff of Dr. Grund and the doctor himself. Betty loved to cook, knit, sew, and travel. Her favorite destination was Kauai, Hawaii. Al and Betty dreamed of traveling to Hawaii early in their marriage and were finally able to go there in 1972. Once Al retired, they would travel to Kauai for several weeks each spring to see the whales and relax next to the ocean. They traveled the world, going from Scandinavian fjords all the way to New Zealand and Australia. One of Betty’s greatest ministries was her prayer life. You could always count on Betty to pray for you no matter what the situation or how big the crisis. In the early 70’s she was on the telephone prayer chain. She would call several people every few days to report the week’s prayers, and eventually did it all on-line, passing prayers multiple times per day. If you ever told her about a problem in life, her first question was, “Did you pray about it?” She would often walk up to strangers that she could see who were visibly suffering and ask them, “How can I pray for you?” And she would pray for them then and there. Other ministries included Lutheran Marriage Encounter and The Gideons International. Betty loved to cook. Her favorite meal was close to her German roots and included Sauerbraten and potato dumplings with butter sauce and red cabbage. Cooking and baking were two of the things she missed the most when she moved into assisted living. She loved to bake treats at Christmas time and had a tradition of making cranberry candy cane pastries to be enjoyed on Christmas morning. When Betty was able to leave assisted living post-Covid, her kids, grandkids and great grandchildren started the tradition of dinner at Eric and Cynthia’s after church on Sundays and she always asked if the great-grandkids would be there when she was picked up.
Betty’s parents and husband preceded her in death. Betty is survived by her brothers Charles Mutz (Anette) and Douglas Montgomery. Betty’s husband Al preceded her in 2010. She is survived by her son Buddy (Linda), daughter Lisa Uhlig (Dan), and son Eric (Cynthia). She has 5 grandchildren, Elizabeth “Beth” Uhlig, Caleb Schallenmuller (Charissa), Hannah Uhlig, Carl Schallenmuller, and Peter Schallenmuller. Betty has 4 great grandchildren, Lucy, Quinn, Sloan, and Gunner. Flowers can be sent to Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church, 7691 S. University Blvd, Centennial CO 80122. Memorials may also be given to the Shepherd of the Hills, https://www.shepherdhillschurch.org/give or to The Gideons International https://www.gideons.org/ .
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