Betty L. Courter, 90, of Grinnell died Dec. 24, 2021, at the Grinnell Health Care Center.
Funeral services were held at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 11, at Smith Funeral Home in Grinnell with Pastor Matt Miller officiating. Honorary pallbearers were Branon Harter, Jarek Harter, Kellan Harter, Jasmyne Miller, Jordyn Miller, Jalyssa Miller, Jeyce Miller, Gavin Courter, Landry Courter, Zoey Triplett, Ava Triplett, William Bryant, Piper Bryant, and Beau Fordyce. Private burial was in Rose Hill Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Marshalltown. Memorial contributions may be designated to Hospice of the Midwest.
Betty was born Oct. 1, 1931, in Calhoun County, the daughter of Roy Lester and Nellie Wall Yeazel. She was raised in the Lytton area and was a 1949 graduate of Lytton High School.
Dec. 23, 1951, she was united in marriage to Marvin E. “Ike” Courter in Jolley - a union of nearly 44 years! The couple lived in Rockwell City prior to moving to Grinnell in 1962. She was employed with the office of Dr. Light and Dr. DeMeulenaere for 10 years. In 1972, the Courter family purchased a farm near Gilman. For many years, she was a secretary for the SEMCO School Board.
After her retirement in 1988, she moved to Seeland Park in Grinnell and later to Colo until 2015. She then returned to Grinnell and had lived at Windsor Manor and most recently (2021) at Grinnell Health Care Center.
Betty was a member of the Gilman United Methodist Church where she enjoyed teaching Sunday school. She enjoyed traveling, including wintering with her husband in Texas for eight years and after his passing in 1995 going with her girlfriends. She considered Nova Scotia among her most favorite places to visit.
Betty is survived by her children: Randy (Val) Courter of Lynnville and Pam Courter of Grinnell; daughter-in-law Brenda Angell; nine grandchildren: Tina (Justin) Harter, Kyla (Matt) Miller, Josh (Amber) Courter, Cory (Nicole) Triplett, Cheyenne (Billy) Bryant, Tiegan (Codi) Fordyce, Emma Little, Ceslie Ozbun, and Cole Ozbun; 14 great-grandchildren; two great-great-grandchildren; and three sisters: Marjorie (Ronald) Hepp of Rockwell City, Mary Heinz of Pomeroy, and Linda (Allan) Osterhout of Hermitage, MO.
She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband Ike; a son Rick Courter; a grandson Kyle Courter; and two brothers Dale and Gerald Yeazel.
