Betty Jean Bauer

Funeral Services will be held at Preston-Hanley Funeral Home in Pekin, IL, on December 15, 2025, at 1:00 PM, with visitation 30 minutes before the funeral. Rev. Don Southerd will officiate. Burial will follow at Glendale Memorial Gardens in Pekin.

Betty Jean (Lee) Bauer was born May 7, 1930, in Blytheville, Arkansas to Dillie Elizebeth (Peacock) Lee and Adaniram Judson Lee. She lived in Southeastern Missouri until age nine, when her family moved to Peoria, IL. She graduated from Woodruff High School in Peoria in June 1950. She married Frederick Henry Bauer March 1, 1953, at Bethany Baptist Church in Peoria, IL. At the time of her death, they had been married 72 years.

Betty worked for a short time at R. G. LeTourneau Inc., then at K-Mart in Pekin. She was primarily a stay-at-home mom.

She was a member of the Pekin First Church of the Nazarene and their Sunday School Booster’s Class. She enjoyed swimming at the YWCA, researching her family ancestry, traveling, taking and collecting family pictures, and spending time with her grandkids, family and beloved pets.

Surviving is her husband, Frederick Bauer; her daughter, Shirley Frick from Belgrade, Montana; her two sons, Dean (Ida) Bauer from Kannapolis, North Carolina, and Duane (Debbie) Bauer from Cuba, Illinois. Also surviving are five grandchildren, Emily (Michael) Howard and Ryan (Madyson) Frick from Belgrade and Billings, Montana, respectively; Kassandra Bauer from Moline, Illinois, and Joseph (Ashlee) Bauer from Peoria, Illinois, Christian Bauer of Kannaoplis, North Carolina as well as nine great-grandchildren, Madison, Haylee, Abigail, Isabel, and Gabriel Howard, Preston, Louis, and Wyatt Frick; and Bennett Bauer.

Preceding her in death are her parents and siblings: Aline Ferguson, A. W. Lee, Bertha Robinson Parr, Marie Hatley, and six siblings who died as infants.

Betty Jean Bauer will be fondly remembered for her commitment to her family and to her faith.

To express condolences online, visit www.Preston-Hanley.com.

Memorials may be made to Canton First Church of the Nazarene 2051 E Chestnut St, Canton, IL 61520, Cuba Church of the Nazarene 605 S 3rd St, Cuba, IL 61427 or to the charity of the donor’s choice.