Betty Stevens Obituary
The two-story white farmhouse is quiet. Betty Jean DeLisle Stevens, 92, took her last breath on Saturday, February 5, 2022, in her Tonganoxie home where she had lived since the age of 25. In her last two months of life, Betty was surrounded at home by a host of loving family members, as well as professional caregivers. The farmhouse itself was built a century ago on what locals called Strawberry Hill, and later the city grew around it.
Betty, the matriarch of the farmhouse, was born August 25, 1929, in Memphis, Tennessee, the daughter of Walter Lawrence DeLisle and Gladys Lillian Boon DeLisle, of Portageville, Missouri. In 1935, her father died, and several years later, her mother married Charles Lee Fisher, who was a kind and gentle stepfather to Betty.
Betty grew up in Portageville, a town near the Mississippi River that was founded by her French Canadian ancestors. She graduated as salutatorian from Portageville High School and first attended college in Blue Mountain, Mississippi. In 1949, she earned an associate's degree in home economics from Lindenwood College in St. Charles, Missouri.
While attending the University of Missouri, she met the love of her life, Philip Lindbergh Stevens, a University of Kansas student majoring in pre-medicine. The couple eloped to Bentonville, Arkansas, on March 4, 1950. The following August, they repeated their wedding vows in a formal church ceremony in Portageville.
After moving to Lawrence, Betty enrolled at KU and in 1955 earned a bachelor's degree in English. That same year, Philip completed his education at KU School of Medicine. Betty and Philip moved to Tonganoxie, where he would practice medicine and they would raise their six children.
In 1961, Betty returned to KU to earn a teaching certificate. With five young children (number six was yet to come) at home, she deftly balanced school and family while making the dean's honor roll at KU.
For several years, she worked as a substitute teacher in Tonganoxie. She also filled in at her husband's medical office through the years. In addition, in 1975, she bought her first rental house on her own and spent the rest of her life managing several rental properties. But from her childhood, being a mother was all she had ever wanted to do. Several years ago, a family member praised Betty for having been an entrepreneur with her rental business. When the conversation ended and all was quiet, Betty simply said, "I'm not an entrepreneur - I'm a mother."
Known by her grandchildren and great-grandchildren as "Gree Gree," Betty was revered for her ingenuity. A brick hung on strings to keep a lightweight table from tipping over, gate handles installed throughout the house to steady her when walking from room to room, every remote control duck-taped to a yardstick, signs posted in the house reminding people to close - or in some cases to open - doors, everywhere you looked there were signs of Betty's creativity. In her younger years, she was unstoppable. Her husband came home from work one day to find her tearing out a wall. She built bookcases in the basement and refinished a piano on the front porch. She once planted potatoes in May, topping the sprouts with ice cubes to make them think it was March. Her creative jaunts continued throughout her life, and she awoke in the middle of her last night asking for a board that was a two-by-four.
After her husband died in 2015, Betty persevered, staying involved with family and friends. She adopted a pit bull-mix dog named Carmen and enjoyed taking her for car rides. Betty was a regular attendee at music shows at Ryan's Public House in Tonganoxie, and she helped out at Old Doc's Pop Shop, the location of her late husband's medical office.
She was a friend and confidante to all who knew her, quick to give advice and encouragement, and always ready to help. Her easygoing nature served her well throughout her life, especially when she had her first five children in eight years. (Her sixth child was born nine years later.) She recalled being in Cain's Drug Store with her lively first five when someone jokingly asked her what kind of tranquilizers she took. But she didn't need medicine to stay on top of things - one of her greatest gifts was that she had an uncanny ability to remain calm in the midst of any storm. This included the last months of her life, when though beset by congestive heart failure, she nonetheless persevered, aptly directing all who attended to her in the two-story white farmhouse on Strawberry Hill.
Survivors include her children, Philip Stevens (Joan), Roeland Park, Kansas; Charles Stevens (Donna), Gjøvik, Norway; Lisa Scheller (Jim Thorne), Tonganoxie; Matthew Stevens (Moira Mulhern), Kansas City, Missouri; Daniel Stevens (Paula), Tonganoxie; Loralee Stevens (Mike Ryan), Tonganoxie; and bonus son, Gary Schwinn (Debra Fritts), Topeka.
Other survivors include grandchildren, John Fatzer, Lawrence, Kansas; David Stevens, Gjøvik, Norway; Theodore Fatzer, Tonganoxie; Nick Stevens, Roeland Park, Kansas; Harold Fatzer, Lawrence, Kansas; Lisalee Stevens, Gjøvik, Norway; Ben Stevens, Tonganoxie; Michael Stevens, Tonganoxie; Simon Stevens, Lawrence, Kansas; Max Stevens, Kansas City, Missouri; Aidan Ryan, Tonganoxie; Heather Wombwell, Tonganoxie; Katherine Wombwell, Tonganoxie; and seven great-grandchildren.
Betty was preceded in death by her husband and two grandchildren, Lucas Stevens and Andrew Stevens.
In lieu of flowers, Betty requested that contributions be made to the Tonganoxie Public Library's after-school program, the "Chieftain Café."
The memorial service will begin at 2 p.m. Wednesday, February 16, 2022, at the Tonganoxie United Methodist Church, 328 E. Fourth Street, with visitation from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. Afterward, a reception will be held at Ryan's Public House, 622 E. Fourth Street, Tonganoxie. Inurnment will be at a later date in Hubbel Hill Cemetery, where she will rest forever beside her beloved husband.
Published by Lawrence Journal-World on Feb. 15, 2022.