Betty Ann Alkire

Betty Ann Alkire, 87, passed away at her home in Nevada, on Friday, Oct. 12, 2012, following an illness of several months. She was born on Oct. 27, 1924, in Overland Park, Kan., to Wiley Clifton Langdon and Elsie Gertrude Stephens Langdon. She married Joseph Edward Alkire and he preceded her in death June 20, 1981.

Betty was raised in Crawford, Neb., and graduated from Crawford High School. She and her husband lived in Nevada, Mo., and then moved to the state of Nevada where Joseph worked for an open pit mining company. They moved back to Vernon County, Mo., in 1971 where she has resided since.

Survivors include two daughters, Marilyn Peery and her husband, James, Nevada, and Christiane Bennett and her husband, Dennis, Rolla, Mo.; one son, David Alkire and his wife, Cindy, Rolla, Mo.; daughter-in-law, Carolyne Alkire, Farmington, Mo.; 12 grandchildren including the three she raised, Melissa Humphrey, Shawna Alkire and Nathan Alkire; numerous great-grandchildren and great-great grandchildren; one sister and best friend, Bonnie Taylor, Nevada; one sister-in-law, Mildred Conner, Auburn, Neb.; and several nieces and nephews. In addition to her husband, she was preceded in death by her parents.

Funeral services will be held at 1 p.m., today, at Ferry Funeral Home, Nevada, with the Rev. Herb Bishop officiating. Interment will follow in National Cemetery, Fort Scott, Kan. Friends may call now until the hour of service at the funeral home. The family will receive friends from noon-1 p.m., today, prior to the funeral service.

Contributions may be made in her memory to the Vernon County Cancer Relief Fund or National Foundation for Cancer Research in care of Ferry Funeral Home, 301 S. Washington, Nevada.

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