Betty Jane Buenker (97) of Teutopolis

Betty Jane Buenker passed away Friday, March 24, 2023 at the age of 97.  

She was born October 10, 1925 in rural Teutopolis to Allie and Bertha (Westendorf) Thoele.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11:00 a.m. Tuesday, March 28, 2023 at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Teutopolis with burial in St. Francis Cemetery. Visitation will be held from 9:30 am to the time of the funeral mass Tuesday at the church. Memorial donations may be given to St. Francis Church or Meals on Wheels.

Her first job was with Siemer Milling Co., where she worked as a bookkeeper and was the only girl to work there at the time.

She married Leo Buenker on May 8, 1948, becoming a farmwife and homemaker. He passed away in 2006.

Betty was active in her church and its activities, including serving as past president of the Ladies Sodality. She loved to sew and could tackle any project-often without a pattern. Betty found time to garden and tend to a menagerie of animals: chickens, pigs, calves, and cows. She also helped Leo in the field. For fun, they took to square dancing and later learned ballroom dance moves. Betty and Leo enjoyed many bus trips around the country.

Surviving family include Kathy (Jeff) Stremming of Teutopolis; granddaughters, Julia (Paul) Wilburn of Effingham and Dana (Nick) Blazina of Nashville, Tennessee; great-grandson, Archer Blazina of Nashville; sister, Rosie Brumleve of Teutopolis and brother, Bob Thoele of Teutopolis.

She was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Leo; sister, Patricia and her husband, Don Siddens; brother, Tom and his wife, Jane Thoele; brother-in-law, Art Brumleve, and sister-in-law, Helen Thoele; as well as a brother Patrick, in childhood.