Betty Chapman, 96, of Massena passed away peacefully at her home on Thursday, June 7, 2024. Funeral services are pending at the Lamb Funeral Home in Massena. Online condolences may be left to the family at www.lambfuneralhomes.com.
Elizabeth “Betty” Mary Esther (Kautz) Chapman died peacefully June 7, 2024, at her home in Massena, with her daughters by her side.
Betty was born November 4, 1927, to David and Leona (Coleman) Kautz in a farmhouse outside Fontanelle. She was baptized in the Lutheran church in Wadena, Minnesota, the home of her paternal grandparents.
Betty’s formal education, always in a one-room schoolhouse, ended after eighth grade because of the long distance to high school. In the younger grades, she rode the family’s Shetland pony to school. White Cloud wasn’t always cooperative, but if Betty got off, she was too small to get back on by herself. Luckily, the mail carrier would come by to help her out!
As a teenager and the oldest of three sisters, Betty helped her dad on their 120-acre farm near Diagonal — she hand picked corn, bottle-fed lambs, shocked oats, and helped her mom and neighbor women prepare big meals for threshers. Betty spoke of wearing feed sack dresses in her younger days and happily going to an occasional show with 10 cents in her pocket!
After meeting on a blind date, Betty married Clyde Henry Chapman on June 1, 1946, at Salem Lutheran Church in Creston. The first few years of their marriage, they lived in the back rooms of Clyde’s Standard Oil station outside of Massena. They bought their home on Pine Street in Massena in 1955, where Betty lived for the rest of her life — nearly seventy years. In the early years, Clyde and Betty loved dancing together, and later they enjoyed camping at Lake Anita as well as helping out with and following the grandchildren and great-grandchildren’s activities.
Over the years, Betty worked at Peel’s Drugstore, the Massena Sale Barn, and Economy Market in Massena. She also worked for seventeen years in the C&M school kitchen before she retired in 1994; Betty made dozens of the wonderful cinnamon rolls that so many C&M students remember!
Betty always described her mom as a great cook, and Betty’s family thought the very same of her. Betty faithfully made Clyde’s favorite Ranger Cookies almost every week while he was working. Even unexpected visitors were typically greeted by Betty with something sweet to eat. It’s hard to say whether her ham balls or her chicken and noodles were the best, but her grandchildren would happily debate it over a loaf of her banana bread or a pan of apple crisp!
Betty got her first sewing machine in her 20s as a gift from her mother. She cut patterns out of newspaper, taught herself by trial and error, and grew to love sewing. Her family members were the appreciative beneficiaries of her talents, from countless mending tasks, to cowboy costumes, matching pajamas, prom dresses, bridesmaids’ dresses, and extra-length flannel pants! Betty made beautiful quilts for each of her daughters and grandchildren and sewed Clyde’s shirts into aprons as gifts for her family. More recently, she kept busy making soup bowl koozies and potholders, of which her family members have a lifetime supply!
Playing cards and board games were a large part of Betty’s social life. For many years, she and Clyde frequently played Pinochle at card parties with friends. Betty was the last original member of the Crazy Eights, a pinochle club she and friends started approximately 50 years ago; she continued to play until March of this year. She also loved to play bingo, put together jigsaw puzzles, read, and could even be found playing the slots at a casino now and then! During her 90s, Betty embraced technology — playing Solitaire and other games on her tablet and FaceTiming with family on her phone.
Betty was a member of the Massena United Methodist Church, the American Legion Auxiliary, Friends of the Library, and the Massena Historical Society, and was a volunteer at the Cass County Hospital gift shop. She was involved with a special group of ladies who sewed cotton dresses for the Little Dresses of Africa organization. In her 90s, Betty was still cutting out, sewing, and pressing hundreds of embellished pockets for the dresses; the pockets were then passed on to the next seamstress in the process. She was proud, at her age, to be able to contribute to such a worthy project and was known as “The Pocket Lady”.
Betty’s love and dedication to her family was evident every day of her life. In addition to her daughters Phyllis, Pat, and Pam, she doted on and frequently commented on how fortunate she was to have such loving sons-in-laws in Jim, Paul, and Tim. She was a central and beloved figure in each of her grandchildren’s lives, and they thought the world of her. Many of her grandchildren’s friends also fondly referred to her as “Grandma Betty,” which she loved. Her family will remember her for her kind heart, her independence, and her tenacity for life.
Betty is survived by her three daughters: Phyllis Stakey of Massena, Pat Lydon of Red Oak, and Pam (Tim) Austin of Liberty, Missouri; her grandchildren: Mike (Marcie) Stakey, Molly (Jeff) Crom, Adam (Teresa) Stakey, Cris (Larry) Jacobson, Joe (Jen) Lydon, Nic Lydon, Kate Lydon, Dan Lydon, Alison Austin (fiancé Jason), and Erin Austin (fiancé John); great-grandchildren Brett (Paige) Stakey, Ellie and Lily Crom, Olivia, Whitney, and James Stakey, Tuan Jacobson, and Adelia and Seth Lydon. She is also survived by many special nieces, nephews, friends, and many loyal granddogs.
Betty was preceded in death by her parents, husband Clyde in 1997, sons-in-law Jim Stakey and Paul Lydon, great grand-daughter Faith Stakey, sister Inez McKee and husband Bill, and sister Jeanie Bozwell and husband Earl.
