Cover photo for Betty Fehrenbach's Obituary

Betty Fehrenbach

September 22, 1929 — September 4, 2021

Betty Fehrenbach

We lost our beloved Mother, Betty A. Fehrenbach, in the early morning of September 4, 2021. The baby of seven children and daughter of Frank Raymond and Lylah Mae Fawcett, she was born September 22, 1929, in Anthony, Kansas. She graduated from Anthony High School and soon after met the love of her life, Steve, on a blind date.

That blind date led to many other dates and an eventual wedding ceremony on February 14, 1953. Although everyone always thought the date to be an intentional way to show the love they had for each other, Betty and Steve claimed it was the only day that worked out for everyone. They were lifelong Valentines and were often seen sharing kisses, dances, and laughs throughout their 59 years of marriage before Steve passed away.

Soon after their first anniversary, Betty celebrated becoming a mother for the first time. This celebration came several more times, as she was the mother of nine children (six boys and three girls). Recently one of her children mentioned to a caregiver that she had nine children. She was quick to correct and stated, “I STILL HAVE nine children!” Over the course of 17 years and living in three different states, her family was complete. In 1971, she and our Dad moved from Utah to Arkansas with nine children and never moved again. They quickly found a church that was just right for them, Our Lady of Good Counsel, where they made lifelong friends and eventually seven of their children attended school.

Our Mom was known to be silly (she had a wide range of faces she made), stubborn, and stern. She loved her children immensely and wanted nothing more than for them to be kind, honest people, who do the right thing. She made this clear throughout our childhood through her examples of hard work, involvement in the school and church, and never hesitating to help another. She was definitely the disciplinarian and at any given point at least three children could be found at a dinner table working to eat enough of something that qualified for “not wasting food,” or standing in a line waiting for someone to fess up about some particular wrong-doing. Most of the time, someone would.

Most people can’t imagine having and caring for nine children. Our Mom handled a variety of tasks as though she had special training. She could cook for no less than an army and we have fond memories of her preparing the birthday child’s favorite meal, complete with a homemade cake. At Christmas she baked an amazing array of cookies, along with divinity, fudge, and peanut brittle. Although we didn’t think she kept nearly enough for her family (even though we were eating them for a few weeks after Christmas), she would pack some for the family and several tins to be delivered to friends. There wasn’t an article of clothing she couldn’t make (they never had to buy a prom dress because she made them all, along with bridesmaid dresses), a piece of furniture she couldn’t upholster, or a baby she couldn’t calm and get to sleep. She was Mom to us, but she was also a librarian assistant, a substitute teacher, a PTO president, cub scout leader, room mom, an Altar Society member, a Eucharistic Minister, a devoted participant of Perpetual Adoration, and a lifelong volunteer for the school and church. She attended church every Sunday and holy day of obligation, and made sure that her children attended as well, continuing to call them and remind them of holy days of obligation into their adult years.

Our Mom was a tough cookie. She developed strength and resilience early in her life and carried it throughout, recovering amazingly well from major surgeries (double knee replacement in her late 70s), to falls even later in life that landed her in the ICU for several days. To Steve, she was “Babe,” “Betty Boop,” or another endearing name. To her children, she was “Mom.” To her grandchildren, she was “Grandma,” or “Mimi.”  But to all she was a strong woman with a prayerful heart (she prayed the rosary until she could no longer) and a strong spirit. We will miss her immensely.

Betty is preceded in death by her parents and all of her siblings: Harold, Wayne, Jim, Bob, Kate, and Frank, her truly beloved, Steve, and her first grandchild, Joshua. She leaves to cherish her memory and try to figure out what to do without her, nine adoring children: Blane (Judy), Danny (Nita), Karen (Monty), Ronnie, Bonnie (Tony), and Dennis (Cynthia) all of Little Rock; Kenny (Lisa) of Augusta, GA, Roberta (Ellen) of Panama City, FL, and Chris of New Orleans, LA. Her grandchildren, Lori, Jon (Miranda), Anna (Bryan), Courtney, David, Kimberly (Ethan), Jake (Lareina), Adrienne (Brian), Sarah, Zack, Brooke (Michael), Sydney and Reece, along with great-grandchildren, Kaitlyn, Ethan, Samuel, Caspin, Audrey, James, Karter, Lucca, and Titus, will continue to hear the stories of the Grandma/Mimi. Her many nieces and nephews will miss seeing their Aunt Betty.

The family is so appreciative of the opportunity Mom had to live at Presbyterian Village for a year and a half until her growing needs forced her to move. Elder Independence was instrumental in helping with the move to House of Three, which became her new home for almost a year until she peacefully passed away there. House of Three’s entire staff provided a caring home environment and allowed her children to visit in person and hug her throughout the pandemic. We are extremely thankful for that.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated by Father Greg Luyet at Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic Church on Wednesday, September 8, at 10:00 a.m., followed by interment at Calvary Cemetery. Visitation will be Tuesday, September 7, beginning at 5:00 p.m. followed by the Rosary at 6:00 at Smith Little Rock Funeral Home, 8801 Knoedl Ct. (NW corner of I-630 and Barrow Rd.). Pallbearers are: Tony Boaz, Monty Cole, Ethan Farmer, Brian Cross, Michelle Sanders, and Michele Murray.

Memorials may be made to the American Cancer Society, https://www.cancer.org/ , or to Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic Church, https://goodcounsellr.com/ .

To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Betty Fehrenbach, please visit our flower store.

Past Services

Visitation

Tuesday, September 7, 2021

5:00 - 7:00 pm

Smith - Little Rock Funeral Home

8801 Knoedl Ct, Little Rock, AR 72205

Enter your phone number above to have directions sent via text. Standard text messaging rates apply.

Rosary

Tuesday, September 7, 2021

Starts at 6:00 pm

Smith - Little Rock Funeral Home

8801 Knoedl Ct, Little Rock, AR 72205

Enter your phone number above to have directions sent via text. Standard text messaging rates apply.

Funeral Mass

Wednesday, September 8, 2021

Starts at 10:00 am

Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic Church

1321 S Van Buren St, Little Rock, AR 72204

Enter your phone number above to have directions sent via text. Standard text messaging rates apply.

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