Betty M. Sterner

Betty Marie Sterner January 27, 1928 ~ May 7, 2011 After a valiant battle with the aging process, Betty Marie Sterner passed away in her home Saturday May 7, 2011. Betty was born in Redfield, South Dakota January 27, 1928. She was the first of five children. She liked to commune with nature, meditating on the awesome concept that all living things come from a common DNA, a sobering concept even for a cynic such as herself. She loved cats, hated tomatoes, especially stewed, and held a fetish for new cars. Betty was extremely educated beginning her formal education in Redfield in grades 1-7, then graduating from Frankfurt, SD in 1946. She loved to read and since the first grade devoured books, longing for the knowledge within and searching for the answers to the question “Why?” Before she graduated, she read the entire collection in the Frankfurt High School Library. She attended Dakota Weslyan University in Mitchell, SD graduating in 1951. Her favorite instructor, George McGovern, piqued her interest when he frequently hosted in his home student discussions on world issues. She majored in English, minored in Speech/Drama, Psychology, and Education and played French horn in the band. Betty began a 39-year teaching career in the South Dakota towns of Delmont, Harold, Estelline, and Clark, then served 22 years at Watertown, SD as a Psychology, Sociology, and Philosophy instructor. During this career she was awarded the Classic Educator Award by the Watertown School District in 1983 and was recognized by the University of Chicago as an Outstanding Teacher in 1984. Upon retirement in 1990, her students selected Betty as keynote speaker for commencement ceremonies, the first time in the town’s history a teacher was invited to do so. While at Watertown, she served as adjunct professor of Psychology and Philosophy at Harmony Hill, a satellite location for Mt. Marty College in Yankton, SD. Beginning in 1978 Betty explored a new passion, archeology, when she mentored a group of students through the excavation of a pre-historic Woodland Indian site. Her findings changed history’s understanding of the migration patterns of the Native Americans in that region. Betty was awarded the first Field Excavator certificate given to a non-professional in South Dakota. She was also a self-taught painter in oil and watercolor and a writer of prose and poetry. She was published in Pasque Petals, a literary magazine. She loved spoiling her nieces and nephews and challenged each of them to think independently. Upon retirement in 1990, Betty moved to Caldwell, Idaho to live with her sister and brother-in-law, Mary and Charley Heckelsmiller. She cultivated a love for cooking, pursued her love for painting, and donated the countless books to the Caldwell Public Library. Betty was preceded in death by her parents, Jennie and Roy Sterner; two brothers, John Leroy and Lloyd Conrad; and a 6 year-old-sister, Alice Jean. She is survived by her sister Mary (Charley) Heckelsmiller and numerous nieces and nephews. A Celebration of Life will be held at Faith Lutheran Church at 2915 S. Montana Ave., Caldwell, Idaho on Saturday, May 14, 2011 at 2:00 PM. Friends and family are invited to an informal gathering at Mary and Charley’s home immediately following the service. Inurnment will take place at Greenlawn Cemetery in Redfield, South Dakota at a later date. Memorial contributions can be made directly to Dakota Weslyan University’s George McGovern Library, 1200 W. University Ave., SD, 57301. Condolences may be given at www.flahifffuneralchapel.com Service Information