Historical Summer 2001 article. Dates, prices, services and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.
On June 9, the family and extended family of friends met at Grace United Methodist Church to honor the life of the extraordinary person who was Betty Klinefelter. Betty died in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in late April, having lived into her mid 80’s.
She was remembered as a person who not only gave of herself with amazing energy, but also inspired and recruited many others to challenge themselves to the same extent. Many of those who are still involved in Scouting were brought into it (or dragooned, as they lovingly recalled) by Betty.
She was active in both Cub Scouts and Girl Scouts, leading both of her beloved troops to excellence.
She was the first in our area to be awarded the Silver Fawn, the counterpart to the Silver Beaver, given in honor of outstanding leadership in Scouting. Among those who spoke formally of their experiences with Betty was Beth Bender, who found among her youthful diary entries a reference to Betty as “God’s Right Hand.” Others spoke eloquently of her energy, passion, and dedication to the many missions she undertook. Many of those present were parents of children who attended Grace PreSchool, which Betty helped to found and in which she worked well into the 1980’s.
I knew Betty best when we served together on the St. Louis Board of Education from 1977 to 1983.
She was a potent force for doing what was in the best interest of the children of the district.
She chaired the Instruction Committee for much of her term and brought those meetings to individual school’s to give area parents the opportunity to see the work of the board members.
Each member was informally assigned to one of the districts into which the system was then divided. Betty not only went to parent meetings in her district, she went to scores of basketball games and other activities to cheer on the students in those schools.
She had a strong “nonsense detector,” but always behaved with grace and probity.
I saw her demonstrate real courage in standing up for her principles when a powerful politician tried to bully all of us. Betty was not daunted by much, but was not one to grandstand or seek the limelight.
I always sensed that she knew how to get the most out of life, while trying to make sure others did, too.
All who knew her congratulate her children, Karen, Gary and Ruth, on their excellent choice of a mother, and wish them the solace of the admiration and affection of so many for the great woman Betty was.
Original photograph caption
Betty Klinefelter. Photographer not credited.
Originally published in The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, Summer 2001.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Original source: SD_Times2001_06.pdf, printed page(s) 3; PDF page(s) 3.
