Betty Jean Brown Hoodenpyle

Betty Hoodenpyle of Leawood, Kansas passed away Wednesday July 27, 2011 as a result of complications following a fall. Betty was born in Kansas City, Missouri on February 4, 1930 and spent her early years on the westside where she loved nickel movies, riding street cars and hanging around the Tempter Sandwich Shop, managed by her mother Virsil Brown. Betty’s father, Robert P. Brown, a life-long newspaper man at the Kansas City Star, later moved the family to the Linwood area where Betty attended Central High School and spent summers enjoying the Swope Park pool, Fairyland Park and the cool evening breeze on the lawn of the Liberty Memorial. Betty began roller skating at the Playmor and El Torreon rink, where she met her husband Robert Hoodenpyle, a skating instructor and very cool guy, who had just returned from World War II with plans to open a lumber company which the couple owned and operated for over fifty years. Partners in both skating and duplicate bridge the couple were both Life Master’s who enjoyed traveling to tournaments and other even more exotic locales. Betty owned Donacyn Travel in Corinth Square for over thirty years, mixing her love for people, fun and adventure in her own unique and special way. Betty leaves a family who loved her dearly: Lori Hoodenpyle of Prairie Village and Leslie Polhemus of San Francisco, California, her husband Rick, and their two daughters Kelsey and Skyler, who filled their Grandma’s heart with joy. The family would like to express our most sincere appreciation and love for our cousin Mike Hoodenpyle, dear friends Joel Coey, Brian Jennings and Margaret Cochran as well as all the gals at the travel agency and especially the wonderful friends and caregivers at Sunrise of Leawood who gave Betty such a feeling of warmth and connection over these past two years. A memorial reception will be held on the afternoon of Sunday, July 31st, at 2:00 p.m. in the Club Room at Sunrise of Leawood, 11661 Granada Road, Leawood, Kansas. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations are made to the Children’s Center for the Visually Impaired at 3101 Main Street in Kansas City, Missouri. Condolences may be offered at www.mtmoriah-freeman.com. Arrangements under the direction of Mount Moriah & Freeman Funeral Home, Kansas City, MO.