Newman, Betty Mae Whitmore

Betty Mae Whitmore Newman

Betty Mae Newman, 97, formerly of Center Point and Cedar Rapids, passed away Friday, Aug. 23, 2013, at 10:20 a.m. at Beaverdale Estates in Des Moines, where she had resided for the past nine years. Memorial services will be 3 p.m. Sunday at Beaverdale Estates in Des Moines. Visitation will be 1 p.m. Monday, Aug. 26, at Cedar Memorial Westside Chapel in Cedar Rapids, followed by graveside services at 2 p.m. at Dunkard Cemetery near Midway, Linn County, where she will be buried next to her husband, Clarence.

Surviving are three daughters, Marian Parsons and husband Terry of Palestine, Texas, Jean Jeffries and husband Joe of Johnston, Iowa, and Kathryn Quick and husband Doug of Bartlesville, Okla.; seven grandchildren, Mark Parsons and wife Sharon, Alan Goodale, Ann Thomas, Jason Quick and wife Sarah, Sarah Swanson and husband Mark, Rebekah Russin and husband Danny and Daniel Quick and wife Amy; nine great-grandchildren, Katelyn and husband Daniel Holland, Brian Parsons, Blake and Nathaniel Goodale, Isabella, Nadia, Ramona and Lucia Swanson and Samuel John Russin; one great-great-grandson, Daniel Luke Holland; several nieces and nephews; and other relatives.

In addition to her husband, she was preceded in death by her parents, and two brothers, Robert and Clair.

Betty Mae Whitmore was born April 18, 1916, in Haven, Tama County, Iowa, the daughter of Elnathan Hathaway Whitmore and Flora Bell Souder Whitmore. She moved with her family to Center Point, Iowa, where she graduated from Center Point High School in 1933. Betty attended Iowa State Teachers College (now University of Northern Iowa) in Cedar Falls, earning a teaching certificate in 1935. Betty eloped with Clarence Robert Newman and were married on Nov. 26, 1937, in Palmyra, Marion County, Missouri. Clarence died Nov. 20, 2002, a week before they would have celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary.

Betty was a schoolteacher before she was married. She worked at home as a typist for Iowa National Mutual Insurance Co., as a clerk for the county assessor for Linn County, and also worked as a typist for the Young Letter Shop.

Betty was a member of the First Christian Church in Cedar Rapids and attended Glen Echo Christian Church in Des Moines. She was a member of the Pythian Sisters. Betty also substituted as church secretary at First Christian Church in Cedar Rapids.

Betty enjoyed watching the Iowa Hawkeyes play football and basketball, and Cubbies baseball with Clarence, She crocheted afghans for all of the grandchildren and great-grandchildren and also crocheted tablecloths, place mats, doilies, purses and other things. She also knitted sweaters. Betty was a Camp Fire Girls leader and a volunteer at Garfield School when her daughters went to school there.

She enjoyed helping others and was a loving wife, mother and grandmother. We will all miss her very much.

Published Aug. 25, 2013 in The Gazette