Betty Lou Hadley

Rev. Betty Lou Hadley, of Fremont, Neb., died Sunday, Feb. 24, 2019, at Nye Legacy Senior Care in Fremont. She was 92.

Elizabeth Leuellen Boegli was born Dec. 13, 1926, at Fort Wayne, Ind., to Howard and Gertrude Boegli, the third of four children. Her mother was a musician and her father was a master printer. On her mother's grand piano was a German-language bible from 1539 that was printed by her father's ancestors in Europe. At 9, she was the youngest to receive a believer's baptism in her Baptist congregation. She excelled in music and science, as well as basketball, baseball, and marbles. She graduated from North Side High School in Fort Wayne in 1945.

She attended Kalamazoo College in Kalamazoo, Mich., for one year, where she met Clifford Hadley, a Marine veteran and steelworker from Chicago. Betty tutored Cliff in chemistry. He passed. On Aug. 26, 1950, they were united in marriage at Chicago. They graduated from Pacific Lutheran College in Tacoma, Wash., in 1952, then moved to Rock Island, Ill., where Cliff attended Augustana Seminary. The couple and their growing family -- two girls and a boy -- lived in Wilton, N.D., for Cliff's pastoral internship. Betty enjoyed helping write and print the weekly bulletins. After Cliff was ordained in 1956, the family moved to Swede Home, Neb., where Cliff served a call at Calvary Evangelical Lutheran Church. He later studied at Creighton University Medical School and became a physician in 1964. Betty raised the family, by then six children.

The family lived in Polk, Neb., Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Flint, Mich., before settling in Lyons, Neb. At Lyons, Betty served on committees for Bethany Lutheran Church, and she was elected as one of the first women to the school board. She also was active in the PEO sorority, the Nebraska Republican Party, and the state medical auxiliary.

In 1984, Betty was called to train for ministry. She graduated from Luther Northwestern Seminary in St. Paul, Minn., in 1988. At 61, it's believed she was that school's oldest graduate ever. After internships at Immanuel Hospital in Omaha and Salem Lutheran Church in Wakefield, Neb., she served calls at Lutheran congregations in Mead, Oakland, Hooper, Wakefield, Wisner, Tekamah, and Uehling, Neb., and filled pulpits in dozens of other churches throughout the northeastern part of the state. At Alma Lutheran Church in Mead she assisted in a major church remodel. She preached until she was 86.

Betty was a fan of University of Nebraska teams and the Kansas City Royals. She wore a shirt while cheering her teams during televised games that said on the back, "Don't bother me. I'm watching the game." She traveled all over the country, and visited Europe to find her family roots in Switzerland.
She moved to Nye Square in Fremont in 2003. While a resident there, she continued ministry doing hospital and other visitations for St. Timothy Lutheran Church.

She was preceded in death by her husband in 2002; a son, Daniel, in 1969; a daughter, Karen Roberts, in 2006; and her two sisters and brother.

She is survived by a daughter, Penny Smith, of Appleton, Wash.; four sons, Paul (Rachelle), of Lincoln, Neb., Cliff (Julee), of Huron, S.D., Tim (Sue), of Carson, Wash., and James "Jim" (Cathy), of San Diego; grandchildren, Monica and J.D. Smith, John and Michael Roberts, and Micah and Ben Hadley; and four great-grandchildren.

Visitation will be Sunday March 10, 2019 at the Ludvigsen Mortuary Chapel in Fremont from 2pm to 6pm. The funeral service will be Monday March 11, 2019 at Calvary Lutheran Church, Swede Home, Nebraska at 10:30am. Burial will follow in the Calvary Lutheran Cemetery.

Online guestbook at www.Ludvigsenmortuary.com

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