Betty L. Bienhoff

Funeral services for Betty Lee (Pettite) Bienhoff will be conducted at St John's Lutheran Church in Oxford, Nebraska on Monday, September 15, 2014 at 10:30 AM with the Reverend Dale Hedstrom officiating.  Interment will be in the Oxford Cemetery following services.

Betty Lee (Pettite) Bienhoff, 83 years of age, of Garden City, Kansas, (formerly of Holdrege, Nebraska and Oxford) passed away on Thursday, September 11, 2014, at her home at the Garden Valley Retirement Village in Garden City.

She was born December 28, 1930, in Chappell, Nebraska, the oldest of three children born to Harold and Dorothea "Mildred" (Smith) Pettite.  She moved with her parents to a farm near Upland, Nebraska in 1935, where she received her primary education at Hilltop #55 in Franklin County, Nebraska and graduated from Upland High School with the class of 1949.  She was baptized and confirmed at Zion Lutheran Church in Macon, Nebraska on April 13, 1949.

On November 18, 1948, she was united in marriage to Vernon H. Bienhoff at Athol, Kansas, and to this union seven children were born:  Verna Lee, David, Dallas, Marlin, Loretta, Neil and Bruce.  The family made their home in Macon for two years and then moved to a farm near Atlanta, Nebraska, where they continued to farm until 1964.  Betty was a wonderful cook and shared her talent through the years working at several places including the Oxford nursing home, Phelps Memorial Health Center, the Alma and Holdrege Sale Barns, the Hamburger Inn and the Phelps County Senior Citizen Center. She retired in 1992 and in June of 1997, Vernon and Betty moved to Holdrege. On June 17, 2007, Vernon preceded Betty in death and in June of 2008, she moved to Garden City to be closer to her family.

Betty was a member of Trinity Lutheran Church in Garden City.  She enjoyed cooking, baking, quilting and reading in her spare time.  She especially enjoyed spending time with and hearing about her grandkids and great grandkids who were her pride and joy.

Betty leaves to mourn her passing her four sons: David Bienhoff and his wife, Carla of Ottawa, Kansas, Dallas Bienhoff and his wife, Yolanda of Annandale, Virginia, Marlin Bienhoff of Fairmont City, Illinois, and Bruce Bienhoff and his wife, Stacey of Shawnee, Kansas; daughter, Loretta Schultz and her husband, Gerry of Garden City, Kansas; daughter-in-law, Pam Perez and her husband, Rob of Lincoln, Nebraska; 16 grandchildren; 20 great-grandchildren; sister-in-law, Anna Rust of Riverton, Nebraska; brother-in-law, Donald Bienhoff and his wife, Mary Jane of Omaha, Nebraska; and a host of nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.

Besides her husband, Vernon, she was preceded in death by her parents; daughter, Verna Lee Bienhoff in 1949 in infancy; son, Neil Bienhoff in 1993; daughter-in-law, Anna Lue Hendley Berry Bienhoff in 2013; two brothers: Ralph Dennis Pettite, at the age of 17 in a car accident, and LaMarr William Pettite; brothers-and-sisters-in-law: John Bienhoff, Jr. in infancy,  Orville Bienhoff and his wife, Velma, Esther Tordsen and her husband, Emil, and  Dora Dorn and her husband, Henry.

Visitation will be held on Sunday, September 14, 2014 from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM with the family greeting from 1:30 PM to 3:00 PM at the Nelson-Bauer Funeral Home in Holdrege.

Memorials in Betty's honor are requested in lieu of flowers and suggested to Trinity Lutheran Church in Garden City, Garden Valley Retirement Center in Garden City, St. John's Lutheran Church in Oxford, or the Phelps County Senior Citizen Center in Holdrege.

Expressions of caring and kindness can be sent to the family at www.nelsonbauerfh.com

The Nelson-Bauer Funeral Home of Holdrege is in charge of the arrangements.