Betty R. Bowman (88) of Effingham

Betty R. Bowman, 88, of Effingham, IL, went to be with our Lord on Sunday, February 14, 2016, at her home.

Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, February 19 at Johnson Funeral Home, 1110 N. Fourth Street, Effingham, IL 62401, Phone: (217) 342-2215. Burial will be in Funkhouser Cemetery in rural Effingham. Visitation will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday and from 10 a.m. until time of service on Friday at Johnson Funeral Home. Memorials may be made in loving memory of Betty to St. Jude Children’s Hospital or donor’s choice.

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Betty was born on March 3, 1927, in Effingham, Illinois, the daughter of Ezekiel E. and Mary Olive "Ollie" (nee Moody) Hanna. Betty married Winfred Jess Bowman, son of Guss and Ruby (nee Newton) Bowman in 1948. Betty was a devoted daughter, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and Christian. She always put her trust in God for all of her needs and put little value in the things of this world. She owned and operated three restaurants, having learned the business from her mother, Ollie, and older sister, Edith Matthews, who were co-owners of the Little Chef downtown in the 1960's. During her later ownership of the Abe Lincoln Cafe, she served many locals and travelers on a daily basis, but had a special place in her heart for the high school kids that would come for lunch every day. She fed many that didn't have the money to pay and she had a special gift for mentoring the kids. She was a wise counsel to many. She went on to become co-owner of the Coffee Time Restaurant in Charleston, Illinois, and she was the first person to ever develop the order-then-pay-then-eat strategy, thus setting a revolutionary trend for faster and more productive service. Later in life, she dealt in collectibles and antiques. She loved taking her father fishing, and hunting ginseng and mushrooms with her siblings. Betty was a 24-year ovarian-cancer survivor and attributed that to the Lord's good grace and the gifted hands of Dr. Ruben Boyajian.

She is survived by her children Winfred J. Bowman, Jr. & his wife Gail of St. Louis, Missouri, and by daughter Nancy L. Goldtrap of Effingham; grandson Cody Colclasure of Springfield and great granddaughter Heather Colclasure of Mattoon; sister Edith Matthews of Phoenix, Arizona; and brother Larry Hanna & his wife Karen of Marissa.

Betty was preceded in death by her parents; by brothers Paul and Robert Hanna; and by sisters Zelma Sinkler, Twyla Strohl & Marge Verdeyen.