Betty Jean Kerr died Sunday, Feb. 7, 2021, at the Lutheran Home at the age of 88.
Betty is survived by a daughter, Renee (Dan) Shandy of Cape Girardeau; son, Michael (Wendy) Kerr of Las Vegas, Nevada; granddaughter, Chelsea Bowerman (husband, John Dedeke) of St. Louis; and numerous nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Harold Wendell Kerr; and in-laws. Gerald Kerr, Gale Kerr and Conna Abernathy.
Following a private service for family at Morgan Funeral Home in Advance, burial will be at Berrong Cemetery in Gipsy, Missouri.
Betty was born March 16, 1932, in the tiny community of Twelve Mile near Fredericktown, Missouri, the only child of Frank and Mary Senter.
She moved to Gipsy in 1937 at the age of 5, when her parents acquired the town's general store and post office. Betty learned to drive a farm truck at age 8, using her father's lap as a booster seat.
Wendell first caught teen-aged Betty's eye when he would ride bareback on his horse from the family farm to the Gipsy general store. Betty joked that she chose him since he was the only boy in Gipsy who wasn't related to her.
After graduating Zalma (Missouri) High School, Betty married Wendell on Aug. 13, 1950, at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Farmington, when she was just 18 and he was 22. They celebrated their 70th anniversary in August.
Shortly after being married, the couple moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, where Wendell served four years in the U.S. Air Force, stationed at Sandia Base. Betty worked at the base's PX and learned to navigate the big city by bus to shop the latest fashions in Albuquerque's bustling downtown.
After military discharge, the couple moved to Cape Girardeau, eager to begin a family. As her children were growing up, Betty meticulously planned family vacations that offered educational opportunities. The Kerrs toured many national parks, presidential homes, museums, artisan factories, the U.S. Mint and countless landmarks. But Betty's favorite destination was the Deep South in the spring, when the azaleas burst into bloom. She loved touring antebellum homes nestled among majestic live oaks and Spanish moss, and basking in the sun on the white sands of the Gulf Coast.
Wendell and Betty, along with his siblings and their spouses, were owners and operators of Gipsy Bridge Park campground on Castor River for many years, where Betty taught her children and granddaughter to fish, cook over campfires, square dance and appreciate the simple joys of nature.
After becoming members of the Bootheel Bowhunters, Wendell and Betty opened Kerr Archery in the basement of their family home. They were exceptionally proud of son Mike, who captured numerous national champion archery titles and shot professionally for PSE Archery. Betty taught her granddaughter how to manage money after hiring her to fletch arrows in the archery shop. Chelsea recalls, "I spent summers with 'Mom-Mom,' who also taught me how to sew, embroider and shoot a bow when we weren't shopping or watching soap operas."
Betty's talents as a seamstress were unsurpassed. Thanks to Betty's creative sewing skills, her daughter's and granddaughter's Barbie dolls modeled sporty ensembles and elegant beaded gowns with matching cloaks fit for a Hollywood runway. Betty's elaborate Cabbage Patch doll outfits and fur-trimmed snowsuits sold out quickly at area craft fairs. A volunteer in the Lutheran Home sewing room for many years, Betty shared her talents crafting items for their gift shop, sewing wheelchair pockets and lap robes, and carefully mending clothing for residents. Betty also crocheted dozens of precious baby caps for newborns at Southeast Hospital.
A collector of local church cookbooks, Betty enjoyed cooking and experimenting with new recipes. She was also an avid reader and was often in the champion's chair when playing along with the TV game show Jeopardy.
Who was Betty Kerr? She was an excellent homemaker with a multitude of talents. She was organized, hard-working and always in control, a careful financial planner with finely tuned business acumen, smart and witty. Above all, she always watched out for her family, encouraging them to lead successful and fulfilling lives.
During their 70-year marriage, Betty and Wendell always worked as a team. They lived in the same home for 65 of those years, until having to move to the Lutheran Home last summer. Betty missed Wendell terribly after he passed at Thanksgiving. Her family is celebrating their lives together and rejoicing in their heavenly reunion.
Please share your condolences and memories for her family online at www.morganfh.com.
