Betty G. Houske

Our mom, Betty G. Houske, 89 of Prairie Village, KS passed away Friday, August 2, 2013 at St. Luke’s Hospice House as a result of health complications consistent with old age. Her daughter Suzanne and son Bob were at her side. Her oldest son Richard had just spent the months of June and July with her. With the exception of the last 10 days of her life, she lived the last 58 years in her own home. This would not have been possible without the round-the-clock care since 2004 of her caregivers Doris Malone and Artelvia Davis. During her final hospitalization, Mom’s appetite remained robust. Her last meal consisted of pancakes slathered in syrup; desserts were her main course for dinner.

Betty G. Johnson was born January 30, 1924 in rural Dawson, MN to Theodore and Hannah (Erickson) Johnson. A product of the Depression, Mom and her mother lived with extended family following the death of Mom’s father in 1930. When an uncle refused for financially help Mom go to college, she packed a suitcase, took a bus to Sioux Falls, SD and attended Augustana College-paying tuition by working at a number jobs, including a meat packing plant, during World War II. She received her bachelor’s degree in 1946 from Augustana. She then married Harold A. Houske in 1946, and while Dad began practicing law in Washington, D.C., she pursued a Master’s Degree in Library Science at Catholic University in Washington until the birth of their first son, James, in 1950. Thereafter, she raised her family as a homemaker until Dad’s death in 1979. Within six weeks Dad’s death, Mom became employed a library clerk at the Corinth Library in the Johnson county Library System. She remained employed at the Corinth Library until 1994.

In addition to her husband, her son Jim preceded her in death in 1969. She is survived by her double cousin, Phyllis Larson of Menominee, WI; two sons, Richard Houske (wife, Gunilla) of Akersberga, Sweden and Bob Houske of Kansas City, MO; one daughter, Suzanne Houske Andersson (husband Kjell) of Stockholm, Sweden; five grandchildren (in order of age): Philip Andersson, Hannah Houske, Astrid Andersson, Jonathan Andersson and Clara Housek; step brothers Melvin and Orvin Grundyson of McIntosh, MN; and sister-in-law Mary Jane Weisbecker (Husband Al) of Madison, SD.

A Memorial Service will be 11:00 a.m. Monday, August 12, 2013 at the McGilley Midtown Chapel, 20 W. Linwood, Kansas City, MO; visitation will begin at 10:00 a.m.

Memorial contributions may be made to St. Luke’s Hospice House, 3536 Summit, Kansas City, MO 64111.

The family wishes to thank the entire staff at St. Luke’s Hospital and St. Luke’s Hospice House for their compassionate care of Mom.