Betty J. Durden

Betty Jean Durden, 93, passed away February 20, 2017. Funeral services will be 11 a.m. Friday, February 24, 2017 at Plymouth Congregational Church in Des Moines with burial at Resthaven Cemetery. Visitation will be from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday at McLaren’s Chapel in West Des Moines.

Betty was born March 20, 1923, in Jefferson, IA to James Harvey and Mina (Downing) Dillavou. She married Jesse Newton Durden Jr. on June 5, 1945 in Pensacola, FL, where both were serving in the Navy; Jesse as a Naval Aviator, Betty as a yeoman in the WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service). Upon their return to Iowa, they had three children, Richard, David and Barbara.

Betty received her BA (Phi Beta Kappa) in 1948, her MSE in Guidance and Counseling in 1971 and an Ed.D in 1990, at age 67, all from Drake University. Betty was affiliated with Drake University in various positions from 1969 through 1988, retiring as the Director of Human Resources and Special Assistant to the President for Equal Opportunity Programs. She was honored in 1984 as a YWCA Woman of Achievement.

Among her extensive accomplishments in her strive to support life-long education and equality for women, she: Organized and chaired Governor Robert D. Ray’s Commission on the Status of Women; was the state chair of ERA Iowa to add women to the Iowa Constitution; established the program of Continuing Education for Women at Drake University; sat on the boards of Interstate Association of Commissions on Status of Women, Children & Families of Iowa, Des Moines Pastoral Counseling Center, and Interfaith Alliance of Iowa. In 2013 she authored the book “Sanity after Seventy” while residing at Deerfield residential community.

For her own family, Betty was instrumental in facilitating the attainment of undergraduate and post-graduate degrees by her children and grandchildren.

Betty was preceded in death by her parents; brothers, Claude and Cleone; sister, Beryl Morden; and husband, Jesse. She is survived by her children, Richard (Karen), David (Loretta), and Barbara Davis (Mark); grandchildren, Scott, Laura, Amelia, Erin and Erika; great-grandchild, Kiylah; nieces and nephews; and her dear friends, Debi Dyer and Elizabeth McNichols.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be directed to Des Moines Pastoral Counseling Center, Planned Parenthood of Greater Iowa, and Children & Families of Iowa.