Betty Nelle Freeborn

Betty Nelle Freeborn was born on August 19, 1921 on the family farm near Miltonvale, Kansas. As a teenager she attended MWC Academy graduating in 1939. It was in her junior year she surrendered her life to God’ service. She enrolled in nurses training at Saint Mary Hospital in Manhattan, Kansas graduating in 1943. Returning to MWC for theology classes, she finished in 1945. Accepted by Wesleyan Missions she departed for Sierra Leone, West Africa. She served there until 1967 when she returned to Marion Indiana and a year of deputation work. In 1968-69 on leave of absence she bought a house in Sedona, Arizona to rent out and later retire to. In 1970 Betty returned to a year in Rhodesia, then to Zambia to serve from 1970 to 1973. She nursed for the Lord in Africa 27 years, retiring to Sedona to nurse at the Marcus J. Lawrence Hospital Cottonwood and then for years in Sedona Doctor’s clinic.

In Sedona she was a charter member of the new Wesleyan Church her sister Faith and Meredith Turner were planting. After his death, Betty and Faith sold their neighboring homes and moved into an apartment together in Glencroft Retirement Center in Glendale, Arizona. Betty was preceded in death by her parents, James and Lora Freeborn, two sisters Hope Reed and Faith Turner, brother Stanley Freeborn. She is survived by her sister Lois Peterson. Betty went home to her Lord on June 17, 2016. Arrangements under the direction of West Resthaven Funeral Home, Glendale, AZ.