Betty Lou Bowden, 92, of Lincoln NE Formerly of Tekamah NE

Betty Lou (Hart) Bowden was born to Roy Lewis and Alma Marie (Hansen) Hart on September 23, 1923 on a farm near Coleridge (Dixon County) Nebraska. She passed away on January 23, 2016 at The Legacy Retirement Community in Lincoln Nebraska.

She attended 1st grade in Dixon County and grades 2 through 8 at Pleasant Hill School in the country near Herman Nebraska. She walked to and from school every day singing all the way. Neighbors would call her mom and tell her that Betty had passed their house. The teacher rode a horse and would sometimes take Betty part of the way home. She attended Tekamah High School grades 9 through 12 graduating with the class of 1941. She lived with a family in town during the week and went home to the farm on the weekends.

During her freshman year of high school, she met William Lester Bowden and they were high school sweethearts. She attended secretarial school in Omaha after graduation. They were married on June 25, 1941 in Shiloh, North Carolina while Bill was stationed in Elizabeth City, North Carolina at the US Coast Guard Air Station.

They returned to Tekamah in 1947 when Bill was discharged from the service. She worked for various insurance companies in the state of Nebraska following Bill’s transfers with NPPD. After retirement in 1981, they purchased a farm near Adams, Nebraska so they could be close to their grandchildren and watch them grow up.

She was a member of the United Methodist Church and the Herman Order of Eastern Star for 60+ years.

She was preceded in death by her parents and brother, William R. Hart of Herman.

Survivors include two daughters, Janice Bowden of Tekamah, Sharon (Bill) Hitzeman of Lincoln; grandchildren, Ryon (Maggie) Hitzeman of Salina Kansas, Annie (Shawn) Othmer of Tecumseh, Nebraska; great grandchildren, Austin and Olivia Hitzeman, Emma, Sydnie, and Shawna Othmer, and numerous nieces and nephews.

A Memorial Service will be held Thurs., Jan. 28th at 10:30 a.m. at the United Methodist Church in Tekamah NE.

Burial is in the Tekamah Cemetery.

Betty Lou Bowden