Betty Lou Stewart

Betty Lou Stewart: Betty passed away peacefully from this earth surrounded by family on Wednesday at the Mahaska Hospital in Oskaloosa. While Roger served with the U.S. Army Air Corp during WWII, Betty was able to attend Shabbona High School in Illinois. She received a full scholarship to Northern University of Illinois, but was unable to attend. When Roger returned from the service they returned to Iowa where Roger completed his education at Iowa State University in Ames. Roger's was then employed in Kamrar and Mason City, IA, before a job with Employers Mutual of Wausau took them back to the Chicago area. In 1957, Betty started a career in banking at First State Bank, at the Bank of Westmont. Betty would become the first female banking executive in the state of Illinois. Additionally, Betty served as a state notary republic for Illinois. In 1987, Roger and Betty returned to their hometown of Oskaloosa. Betty joined the Daughters of the Revolution and the First Christian Church. She greatly enjoyed bowling, quilting and card games, especially Bridge, of which she was an active member of two leagues until shortly before her death. Betty had a sharp sense of humor, delighted in making threats with her cane, and was famous for her stories of her family and her handsome Raggedy Anne and Andy dolls. Betty Lou was born July 9, 1925 to Dr. William Lewellyn and Gertrude Maude Winchell Okey Windom in Oskaloosa. She was the youngest of five sisters. October 29, 1941, in Lancaster, MO, Betty married the love of her life, Roger Neal Stewart, another Oskaloosa native. Together they had two children, Elsie and Leslie, also born in Oskaloosa. Betty's family includes her son and daughter-in-law, Leslie Keith and May Stewart of Mendota, IL; seven grandchildren, six great grandchildren and two great great grandchildren. Besides her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Roger, in June 2006, her daughter, Elsie Kamper in 1995; a granddaughter, Nicole Kamper; a grandson, Roger Neal Stewart, II; a great granddaughter, Lisa and four sisters, Marguerite Wilcox, Dorothy Hill, Ruth Mayfield and Florence Miller. PDF Printable Version

Betty Lou Stewart

July 9, 1925 - August 29, 2007