Born in Burlington, Iowa, to Martin and Mary McCord, Bette attended and graduated from the Notre Dame High School where she met, dated, and fell in love with Ronald Schemmel. Her first job was a switchboard operator at the telephone company. While Ron had joined the Navy right out of High School, Bette had multiple marriage proposals. But she had her eyes on Ronnie. On one of his leaves, he made it back to propose and they were married April 8, 1961. They moved to Idaho when Ron was training at the nuclear training facility. They fished and camped and hunted before having children.
Bette was a loving, caring, and devoted mother of five children. (Five in eight years!) With Ron’s last assignment being in Colorado Springs, Bette went into the workforce and started work in the Saint Francis Hospital food service department. With her ability to stretch food dollars she was soon in charge of meal planning for the kitchens. She wanted to learn more and do more, so she attended Pikes Peak Community College and got a degree in Dietary Practices which led to a job as a Dietetic Assistant. She then moved on to an Alzheimer’s home where she planned meals and worked with patients.
People who knew Bette always say that she was smiling, happy, and quite the little jokester. Always participating in any activity to learn a new skill or just be with friends, she could knit, crochet, create homemade greeting cards and even learned belly dancing. Never afraid of a challenge, she would take on her husband or kids at Yahtzee or Monopoly. She enjoyed square dancing and all the local events, like the hospital bed races, the rodeo, the state fair. She was even in a bowling league with her husband and close friends.
If you were to ask her, she would say that her greatest accomplishment was her kids. She trained them to be patient and kind, no matter what. Expectations were very high in the Schemmel household, but Bette always made it bearable. She made kool-aide popsicles to help with the summer heat, created living rules for camping trips, and was always willing to devote her time and energy to whichever club or organization her kids were in.
During her final days in assisted living or in the nursing home Bette was cherished by her caregivers. Numerous compliments on how genuinely happy and funny she was, were the norm. After her passing, she was celebrated by a popcorn party at her nursing home as Bette always loved her popcorn.
Bette was preceded in death by her son Gregory Schemmel and her husband Ronald Schemmel.
She is survived by her children: Dawn Hildenbrand of Parker, Terry Schemmel of Longmont, Constance Schemmel of Longmont, and Karen Talone of Colorado Springs as well as six grandchildren.
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.howemortuary.com for the Schemmel family.
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