Betty Lipson

November 20, 2015

Service Details

Betty Mae Lipson, of Des Moines, passed away unexpectedly on Friday, November 20, 2015. Betty was born on March 29, 1925 in Owatonna, MN. To Leona May (Rose) and Charles “Bill” Contell.

Betty graduated from Elkhart High School in 1943. After graduating, she went to work in the War Plant in the payroll department and later out in the plant. After a few months she left to visit her aunt in Clovis, New Mexico. There she fell in love and married after only two months. Soon thereafter he was sent on a bombing mission to Saipan and his B-29 crashed at sea leaving no survivors.

After some time she met and married her boys’ father. They moved around from state to state and wound up in an Alaska territory that was yet settled. Betty would pull her two boys to school on a sled with a flashlight. After a few years they headed back to the states and the marriage dissolved.

Three years later she met Jay, a gentle and loving man, and they spent 52 years together. They spent the summers vacationing in Minnesota and Canada. Betty took up flying and parasailing. She also enjoyed gardening – including patio gardening and planting flowers.

Betty had a good life – filled with lots of laughs as well as lots of sorrow. She will be remembered for her great sense of humor and will be sorely missed.

Those left to cherish her memory are her son, John C. Payne; two grandchildren, Kimberly (Fred) Flowers and Chelsea (Adam) Woody; three great-grandchildren, Brittney, Katelyn and Sarah; her adopted grandson, Mark Lipson; and other loving family and friends.

Those who greeted her in heaven: her parents, husband, Jack; son, Mark Stephen Payne; grandson, Matthew Payne; brothers, Ronnie and William “Bill” Contell; five loving aunts and her furry companion, Casey.

Visitation will be held from 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm on Wednesday, November 25, 2015 at Hamilton’s Southtown Funeral Home, 5400 SW 9th Street in Des Moines. A graveside service will follow the visitation at Elkhart Cemetery in Elkhart, Iowa.

On-line condolences may be expressed at
www.HamiltonsFuneralHome.com

“Good-Bye Old World – Hello Heaven”

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