Obituaries: Betts

William Betts

William Henry Betts, 101, Flanagan and formerly of Chenoa, died at 12:42 a.m. June 20 at the Flanagan Rehabilitation and Health Care Center.

A private funeral service will be held Tuesday at Duffy-Pils Memorial Home, Chenoa with Pastor Deb Honegger officiating.  Burial will be in Chenoa Township Cemetery with full military rites accorded by the Chenoa VFW.  The family suggests memorials be given to the United Methodist Church, Chenoa.

Mr. Betts was born Feb. 19, 1915 in Canton the son of John and Alice Smith Betts.  He married Madge Tracy in 1935 in Peoria.  She died in 1970.  He then married Oretha Maxine Workman on June 2, 1979 in Chenoa.  She died May, 28, 2009.  He married Lena Moore in Meadows.  She survives in Flanagan.

Other survivors include one son, Stephen Betts, Carson City, Nev.; one foster son, Richard Baerlocher, Portland, Ore.; one step daughter, Dolly Gill, Flanagan; one granddaughter, Heather Brooks, Carson City, Nev. and many nieces and nephews.

He is preceded in death by three brothers and four sisters.

Mr. Betts was a mechanical engineer for Seibert Tool and Die for 42 years in East Peoria and later in Chenoa.  He served in the US Navy during WWII.

An online guest registry is available at www.duffypilsmemorialhome.com.

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