Betty Lou (Hill) Hoover was born June 27, 1940 in Smith Center, Kansas into the loving arms of her parents Kenneth Lee and Doris E (Shook) Hill. She departed life, May 16, 2016, after a courageous battle with lung cancer. As a child, she attended elementary school at Corvallis where she especially enjoyed the school music socials. She attended Smith Center, Harlan and Gaylord High Schools, with her Graduation from Gaylord in 1957. Betty was blessed with a big family of aunts, uncles, cousins and wonderful grandparents. She had a very happy childhood with her many siblings dancing and singing and playing on the Beaver Creek. She and her sisters loved teaching the "Harlan Boys" to dance on the Solomon River Bridge.

Betty married her sailor, Gerald A. Hoover on April 20, 1959. Their marriage was filled with love and joyfulness. Betty always felt that Gerald lit up a room when he walked in and he was always so proud of her beauty and grace. Together, they raised four children and many foster children. They spent the first year of their marriage in San Francisco where Betty was employed as a telephone operator. After Gerald's discharge from the U.S. Navy, they returned to Phillipsburg and purchased the Ed Hoover farm where they raised their children. Betty and Gerald moved to town in 1983.

Betty loved to study the Bible with Jehovah's Witnesses and often read the Bible on her own for comfort and strength. She liked Bible prophecy and her Bible is filled with handwritten notes and is underlined throughout. She was free and open in quietly sharing God's word with those around her in a humble manner that reflected her strong faith and belief in Jehovah God and the new earth.

Music and art were a central part of Betty's life. She composed over 120 songs. She played the guitar and the piano by ear and loved singing songs to her grandchildren and great grandchildren, putting them on her lap and playing with their tiny little hands pounding along! One favorite enjoyed by all of her children and grandchildren, nieces and nephews, is "I Caught Myself a Little Bitty Bumble Bee". Family gatherings almost always included time spent with her at the piano taking requests. Her most recent song was written for her sister about her nephew Todd after his death. All of her children, grandchildren and foster children have fond memories of learning to hold a paintbrush at the kitchen table. Betty painted soft colorful watercolor and oil paintings, much like her personality! Her home was a place of light and beauty, where she taught others to truly see and enjoy the world around us. Sleepovers, skits, and nature hikes were common happenings with the many children welcome in her home. Many times, she hauled a bunch of boys fishing and let them bring their catch home in her Lincoln Town Car.

Betty was employed at several different jobs over the years but her biggest joy in life was being a mother and grandmother. As the first secretary of Phillipsburg Little Kids Wrestling, she spent many hours helping Coach Lovenstein get the organization started. She was also a secretary for the American Agriculture Movement. Betty served on the first Phillips County Zoning Commission. She greatly loved working at Norton State Hospital. While working at Phillips County Retirement Center as an activity director, it wasn't uncommon to see her loading residents into her own van to go get ice cream, visit the bank, or just do a little shopping. She was a gifted floral designer at Quanz Floral where she especially loved tending the greenhouse and making dish gardens.

Betty loved being a foster parent and fostered many children. She was a foster parent until age 69. She believed in including her foster children in all activities and family gatherings. She developed many relationships that lasted until her death and was proud of all of her kids and their accomplishments. Prior to and after being a foster parent, she frequently opened her home and her heart to others in need. Betty was adventurous and a great champion of others. She taught by example the importance of treating others the way you would like to be treated. She was a ferocious and spunky lady when she thought someone was being taken advantage of or bullied. And she also enjoyed a competitive game of pinochle or scrabble.

She was preceded in death by her husband Gerald, her parents Kenneth and Doris Hill, her Father and Mother in Law, Lavern Dean and Mary Frances (Ragsdale) Hoover and also Lela (Hoover) (Heikes) Hoover, Brother's in Law, Roy Hoover, Wayne Terrill and Johnny Wagenblast, her Daughter in Law Shani (Roth) Hoover and nephews Evan Woitaszewski and Todd Anderson. She leaves, to celebrate her life, her children, Sheila and Donald Roberts, Sherry Gillihan and Daniel Hoover (Phillipsburg), and Shelly and Joseph O'Mahony (Cork Ireland). Her grandchildren, Benjamin and Susan Roberts, Matthew and Jamie Roberts, Andrew and Victoria Roberts, Amanda Porter, Steven Porter, Cassandra and Steven Walker, David Vincent and Mandi Peterson, Kinzee Hoover and also 22 great grandchildren. Her siblings, Carolyn and Paul Bargman, Patty and Daryl Novotny, Sharon and Hubert Woitaszewski, Dinah and Lyle Schliep, Susie and Kenneth Paget, Monte and Debbie Hill, and her sister in law June Hoover. Many nieces, nephews, foster children and friends.

Funeral services will be held Thursday, May 19 at 2:00 p.m. in the Olliff-Boeve Memorial Chapel with Ron Hessling & Randy Elder officiating. Burial will follow in the Fairview Cemetery, Phillipsburg.

Visitation will be from 5:00 to 9:00 Tuesday & 9:00 to 9:00 Wednesday with the family receiving friends from 7:00 to 8:00 Wednesday evening.

Memorial contributions may be made to Hospice Services or the Phillips County Ministerial Alliance.