Betty Debord

Betty Emelie DeBord, age 96, of Atlantic, Iowa, passed away peacefully on Thursday, September 16, 2021, at the Friendship Home in Audubon, Iowa. Betty was born January 15, 1925, in Clay Township, Shelby County, Iowa, to William Andersen and Anna (Loof) Andersen. She lived in rural Elk Horn, Iowa, in the Rorbeck vicinity. She moved to the Marne area when she was 7 years old and attended rural schools. She graduated from Atlantic High School in 1942.

On October 9, 1946, she married Wayne E. DeBord at the Evangelical and Reform Church in Atlantic, Iowa. Together they began farming in the Atlantic area and in 1963, Wayne and Betty moved to their home farm where they continued to raise their children. After Wayne passed in 2016, she spent time in her daughters’ homes, moved to Allen Place in Atlantic and, most recently, lived at the Friendship Home.

Betty was a member of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Atlantic, the Shriner Auxiliary and Farm Bureau.

Family and farming were her life. She enjoyed gardening, traveling, trips to the casino, playing cards and dominos with family and friends, and Christmas bingo was a tradition. She always shared the latest weather forecast and had a pitcher of tea or pot of coffee ready for whoever stopped in. She especially enjoyed baking cookies for the grandkids and great grandkids.

Preceding Betty in death were her parents, William and Anna Andersen, brother, Wilbert Andersen, father and mother in law, Arlie and Dorotha DeBord, and brother and sisters in law, Edward DeBord, Janis Andersen, Arlene Strickland, and Jean Andersen.

Those surviving Betty are children, Larry (Judy) DeBord, Sandra (Henry) Eggert and Dorothy (Bob) Bond; grandchildren, Stephanie (Ben) Trannel, Shane (Tammy) DeBord, Stacie (Eric) Euken, Scott DeBord, Michelle (Reuben) Rangel, Brian Stirek, Zachary and Christopher Eggert, and Doug (Ellie) Stirek; great-grandchildren, Luke, Ella, and Noah Trannel, Valerie Watson, Catherine DeBord, Colby, Evan, and Lauren Euken, Andersen and Evelyn DeBord, , Ryan, Jacob, and Meghan Blaha, Jadon Rangel, Brayden Stirek, Madelynn and Grace Stirek; as well as nieces and nephews.

Funeral Services will be held at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Atlantic at 10:30 am on Tuesday, September 21, 2021 with burial to follow in the Atlantic Cemetery. Visitation will be held from 5 pm till 7 pm at the Schmidt Family Funeral Home in Atlantic on Monday, September 20, 2021. Memorials can be made to either the St. Paul's Lutheran Church or St. Jude's Children's Hospital and can be left or mailed to the funeral home at P.O. Box 523 - Atlantic.