Bettye Kester

FRIEDHEIM, Mo. -- Bettye Louise Kester, 74, died Sunday, May 19, 2002, at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis.

Friends may call at McCombs Funeral Home in Jackson, Mo., from 4 to 8 p.m. today, and Wednesday after 10 a.m. at Trinity Lutheran Church in Friedheim.

Funeral service will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday at the church, with the Rev. Adam Mueller officiating. Burial will be in the church cemetery.

Bettye was born June 13, 1927, in Cape Girardeau, the only child of Leo and Anita Wachter Siemers. She and Gilbert A. Kester were united in marriage Feb. 16, 1947. They celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary this past February.

Loving survivors include her husband Gilbert of Friedheim; two daughters and sons-in-law, Beverly and Timothy Anderson and Patricia and Gary Dolle, all of St. Louis; and four grandchildren, Brent and Katharine Haberman and Kristopher and Rebecca Dolle.

Bettye's teaching career spanned 30 years, primarily in Cape Girardeau School District, where she served as chairman of the art department at Central High School.

She was a graduate of Central High School and earned her bachelor of science degree in secondary education from Southeast Missouri State University. She earned her master's degree in education from the University of Missouri at Columbia.

Bettye was a member of Retired Missouri State Teachers Association and the National Education Association (NEA). She was an active member and held various offices with Missouri State Art Teachers Association and Alpha Delta Kappa Professional Education Sorority.

At the time of her death, she was an active member of Trinity Lutheran Church and was on the church council. Avidly interested in genealogy, she had published two family genealogy books and had consulted on numerous other related publications.

She and Gilbert lived in Cape Girardeau more than 50 years before retiring to the family farm in Friedheim in 1985.

Expressions of sympathy may take the form of contributions to Trinity Lutheran Church or Trinity Lutheran Cemetery in Friedheim.