Betty Butner

The youngest child of James Albert Kinnamon and Annie Pearl Graham Kinnamon, Betty Jane Butner was born December 3, 1929 in Okalona, Arkansas. Betty was one of seven children, Beverly, Billie, Robert, Ann, Jack and Jerry. She departed this life on Sunday, September 28, 2014.
Like many families during the Great Depression, the Kinnamons struggled to make ends meet, moving around and sometimes becoming separated from one another to find work. The family eventually moved to Kansas City, Missouri, where Betty graduated from East High School in 1945.
She married George Butner on June 19, 1948. They lived in Kansas City and Ruskin Heights. In 1958 they moved to a farm in Creighton, Missouri with their four daughters, Becky Jane, Debbie June, Cindy Jean and Leigh Ann. In 1970, George and Betty built a new home on a portion of the original farm land.
When her youngest daughter started school, Betty began going to college at night and during the summers, earning her Masters Degree in Special Education in 1979. She taught at Archie, Sherwood and Holden High Schools, and retired in 1995.
Every day was an adventure for Betty and George. They were always together, always on the go—whether driving cross country to Maine for lobster or driving up to “The City” for a fish dinner. Of particular note were the many summer road trips they took with their four oldest grandchildren criss-crossing the country, introducing them to their sense of adventure and taste for the new and different.
Betty was caring and loving, and deeply connected to family and friends. She remained very close to her brothers and sisters through her entire life, and kept in touch with many friends from childhood on. She was the centerpiece of Sunday Night Dinner, a weekly gathering which her four daughters and their families maintain today.
Betty was preceded in death by her husband of 63 years, George Albert Butner, and her brothers and sisters. She is survived by her four daughters, Becky Abbott, Garden City; Debbie (Jim) Hale, Garden City; Cindy Hoshor, Kansas City; Leigh Ann (Scott) Friedrich, Harrisonville; her six grandchildren, Darren (Jodi) Abbott, Ryan (Sarah) Hoshor, Andrea Abbott, Megan (Ryan) Sneed; Jessie Friedrich and Tyler Friedrich; eight great-grandchildren, George, Jacob, Jackson, Charles, Ethan, Owen, Olivia and Anna, dear family friend Jill Jennings; and many other friends and relatives.
Funeral services were held Wednesday, October 1, 2014 at the Dickey Funeral Home, Garden City, Missouri with interment in the Garden City Cemetery.
Family hosted a visitation luncheon on Wednesday, October 1, 2014 at the First Christian Church, Garden City, Missouri.
Family suggests memorial contributions may be made to the First Christian Church Memorial Fund, Garden City, Missouri.