Betty Jean Stevens

Let us remember with thanksgiving what God has done through His servant, Betty Jean Stevens.

Betty Jean Schuette Stevens was born at home on March 2, 1931 in Canyon, Texas to Friedrich and Ida Boethe Schuette. She was baptized in the Christian Faith on April 26, 1931. She confirmed her Baptism through the Rite of Confirmation on April 14, 1946 at Trinity Lutheran Church, Amarillo Texas. She attended Canyon High School, graduating on May 26, 1949. On May 30, 1952, she earned an Associate Degree in Applied Science from Amarillo College and on September 15, 1952 she earned a nursing diploma from St. Anthony’s Hospital School of Nursing. She was a Registered Nurse.

At the age of 22 years, she was united in Holy Matrimony to Richard Edward Stevens of Walnut Creek, California, on August 9, 1953 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Amarillo, Texas. The Lord blessed this union with two children.

Betty was the daughter of German immigrants and grew up on a farm in the panhandle of Texas. As a Registered Nurse, Betty served in a number of hospitals and provided nursing and other humanitarian aid services in Lesotho, Africa and on four voyages of Semester at Sea, where her husband Richard served as both faculty and dean. She and her husband also worked with local farmers in Lesotho to improve agricultural production and teach food preservation and canning methods. Betty loved farming and organic gardening, and she and Richard were founding members of the Boulder Farmer’s Market, where they sold their organic produce for more than 20 years.

Betty loved music. She often sang solos in church and while in Africa, she learned how to play alto recorder. Christmas always involved Betty and her family singing Christmas carols in four-part harmony. In Africa, Betty and her family played recorders together—Richard on tenor, Betty on alto, and Cynthia and Mark on soprano.

Betty was a life-long Lutheran, and nothing was more important to her than her faith. As a child, her family faithfully travelled from their farm in Canyon, Texas, to Amarillo—over 20 miles—to make it to church on Sundays. Betty and her husband rarely missed a Sunday, Advent, or Lenten service. Betty and her husband were both active members of the choir at the churches they attended.

Betty’s number one interest, after her relationship with God, was her family. She was a wonderful cook and baker. She grew her own food and cooked meals from scratch. She baked her own bread and her family rarely ate any baked goods from the grocery store. She grew and arranged flowers and was a wonderful seamstress, sewing her own clothes and clothes for her daughter and grandchildren. She opened her home and graciously served uncles, aunts, brothers, sisters, nieces, and nephews.

Survivors include one son, Mark Richard Stevens and wife, Lorie Anne Stevens of Salinas, California; and one daughter, Cynthia Ann Stetson and husband, John Roger Stetson of Santa Fe, New Mexico. She is also survived by two grandsons, two granddaughters, two great-grandchildren, a sister-in-law, and numerous nieces and nephews.

Preceding her in death were her husband, her parents, two brothers, two sisters, a nephew, and a niece.

The family requests that memorial gifts be made to Lutheran Hour Ministries, 660 Mason Ridge Center Drive, St. Louis, MO. 63141, or https://www.lhm.org/give/. A funeral and Celebration of Life service will be held on Saturday, January 13th at 10:30 a.m. at Immanuel Lutheran Church, 209 Barcelona Road, Santa Fe, New Mexico. There will be a public visitation in the church sanctuary at 10 a.m.