A private graveside service was held Tuesday, July 28th. A Memorial Visitation will be held from 11:00am to 12:30pm on Tuesday, October 5 at Mt. Moriah, Newcomer & Freeman Funeral Home, 10507 Holmes Road, Kansas City, Missouri.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a memorial contribution to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital (stjude.org) or to a charity that has meaning to you.
When Betty was born in Kansas City on April 29, 1934, to Walter and Catherine Von Demfange, her father’s family had already been in Jackson County for four generations. Her great-great-grandparents, Oliver H. P. and Matilda Virginia (Glover) Thompson, were early settlers of Grandview, MO, and their farm became the Truman Family Farm, now part of the Harry S. Truman National Historic Site. Her mother’s parents, Michael and Margaret (Kirasic) Magdic, were Croatian immigrants who settled in the Strawberry Hill neighborhood of Kansas City, Kansas, shortly before World War I. Betty deeply valued her American and Croatian heritage, and her years of family history research are part of the legacy she leaves her family.
Betty graduated from Southeast High School in 1952, and attended the University of Kansas City and Research Hospital School of Nursing, graduating in 1955 as a registered nurse. She married Bill Clinton Steely on June 17, 1955 and lived in the Ruskin Heights neighborhood of Hickman Mills for many years. Betty and Bill were charter members of Longview United Methodist Church, and Betty remained a member until the church closed in 2011.
Betty will be remembered for her ready smile, ability to laugh (often at herself), and gift for enjoying everyday life, especially when shared with those she loved. She will be deeply missed by her family and her many long-time friends.
She was preceded in death by her parents, her step-father, Thomas H. Williams, her husband, Bill, her youngest child, Lynn Marie, and her half-brother, Walter Von Demfange, Jr. She is survived by three of her children, Karen Steely (Craig Wallace) of Vancouver, WA; Brenda Steely (Dean Funk) of O’Fallon, MO; and R. T. Steely of Knoxville, TN; her sister, Destiny Clark of Washington, DC; four grandchildren, Clinton Steely (Megan) of Columbus, GA; Amanda Ball (Broc) of Wichita, KS; Anna Young (Joe) of Austin, TX; and Olivia Steely of St. Peters, MO; two great-grandchildren, Lee Steely and Virginia Steely; and her Von Demfange and Magdic cousins.
The family would like to thank Dr. Michelle Franey, Dr. Ravindra Chuda, and St. Luke’s Hospice House for their care and dedication.
