Betty C. Matheney

Her husband of 64 years, Pierce Matheney, preceded her by nine and a half years.

She is survived by her daughter, Susan V. Aud (Ken Burzynski) of Anna, Illinois; her son, Matthew Pierce Matheney IV (Brenda) of Kirksville, Missouri and her son, Kendall C. Matheney (Becky) of Kansas City, Missouri. She also leaves six grandchildren and five great-grandchildren, Audrey Burzynski of Villa Park, Illinois; Amber Bryant (Jacob) of Watlington, England and their son, Lucas; Andrew Matheney (Jenny) of Ozark, Missouri and their daughters, Kylie, Ally, and Poppi; Matthew P. Matheney (Anna) of Columbia, Missouri and their newborn, Mira Beth; Megan Ciskowski (Jeff) of St. Paul, Minnesota; and Melina Matheney, of Columbia, Missouri.

Born at the beginning of the Great Depression, Betty was an only child until the age of eleven and felt very close to both her parents. They lived with her father’s family, four generations under one roof, until her father got contracting work with the WPA, when she and her parents moved to various small towns in Arkansas. Then World War II interrupted the beginning of her father’s architectural practice and the young family (by then including Betty’s much younger sister Joyce) moved to Fort Pierce, Florida, where he was stationed in the Navy. At the end of the War, they settled in El Dorado, Arkansas.

Betty graduated from El Dorado High School in 1949 and went to Texas State College for Women in Denton, Texas where she majored in Foods and Nutrition. Her chief ambition was always to be a homemaker, and she married her high school sweetheart in July 1952. As she had promised her father, she also finished her bachelor’s degree, graduating when pregnant with her first child.

Betty and Pierce raised three children in the family home of 35 years in Kansas City, Missouri. She kept beautiful flower gardens, especially hybrid tea roses. She defended her Arkansas yellow pine trees from snow and ice every winter until they matured. She was active in Englewood Baptist Church, where she taught Sunday School classes for many years. She was also active in the association of Faculty Wives at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Betty and Pierce shared a love of travel, and Betty especially enjoyed researching places in advance and planning the trips. While being an active and loving grandparent, Betty also found time to compile her family’s genealogy and to take up quilting.

After living most of their lives in the Kansas City metropolitan area, Betty and Pierce moved to Kirksville, Missouri in 2012 to return to a small-town lifestyle. Kirksville reminded them in some ways of El Dorado, but it was also the home of their son Matt and his young adult children. After Pierce passed away, Betty’s modest apartment continued to be the site of many joyful family gatherings. She will be greatly missed.

Services will be held at White Chapel Funeral Home and Cemetery in Kansas City, Missouri on Saturday, October 4. Visitation is at 2 PM. The funeral service will follow at 3 PM, with inurnment of Betty’s ashes immediately after.

A memorial service will be held at First Presbyterian Church in Kirksville in the near future.