Elizabeth H. "Betty" Waller, age 99, St Joseph, MO, died peacefully in her sleep on October 15, 2023.
She was born on May 13, 1924, to Leslie V. and Bessie (Thompson) Ausman in Watertown, S.D. Betty graduated from high school in Elk Point, SD. She earned an Associate degree from Cottey College and a Bachelor of Journalism from the University of Missouri. She was a member of Zeta Tau Alpha sorority.
Betty was a teletype operator in New York City and Ft. Leonard Wood, MO, during World War II. She taught journalism and English in Pierre, SD, and at South Holt High School in Oregon, MO. She also worked as a reporter and copyreader at the Holt County Sentinel in Oregon, for many years.
In 1949 she married Loren Glenn Waller at Pierre, SD. They lived in Keytesville, Salisbury, and Coffey, MO before they moved to Oregon in 1954. They moved to St Joseph in 2010.
Betty was a member of PEO Chapter Z, the Holiday Club, and the VFW Auxiliary, all of Oregon. She and Glenn were members of the Oregon United Methodist Church since 1954, where they sponsored the Methodist Youth Fellowship for 22 years. She was an active attendant at Ashland UMC since 2010.
She is preceded in death by her parents and her husband, Glenn, who died in 2012; son, Jeff; sisters, Merry Emme and Nancy Thomas; her brothers-in-law, Marion D Waller, Ken Emme, and Jordan Thomas; and daughter-in-law, Kathy Waller.
Survivors include her son, Dr. Stephen Glenn Waller and Dr. Jane Ward of Centerville, MA; five grandchildren, Kerry (Ben) Dueholm of Dallas, TX; Katie Ward-Waller (David Palmer) of Greenwich, U.K.; Alex (Lindsay) Waller, Olathe, KS; Jeanie Ward-Waller of Sacramento, CA; and Chelsea Ward-Waller (Brett Woelber) of Anchorage, AK. She has six great-grandchildren: Ava and Leo Waller; Soren, Elijah, and Marina Dueholm; and Olivia Palmer; and one sister-in-law, Charlene Waller of Mesa, AZ.
Funeral services: Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023, 11:00 am, Oregon United Methodist Church. Visitation: Beginning at 10:00 am at the church. Inurnment: Maple Grove Cemetery, Oregon. Memorials: Cottey College, Nevada, MO, or Ashland UMC, St Joseph.
