Elizabeth "Betty" Ann Coleman Obituary - Visitation & Funeral Information

Betty Coleman, age 90, passed away on July 17, 2020. Betty was born September 2, 1929 in Buffalo Lake Minnesota. She is the daughter of Erving and Josephine (Schnickel) Koopman. Betty and her husband, Dick, lived most of their years in Traverse City on Old Mission Peninsula. They joined the Glen Eagle Retirement Community in 2014. Betty spent the last two months of her life at Bay Ridge Memory Care. Betty graduated from Buffalo Lake High School, Buffalo Lake, Minnesota, in 1947. She took a position of Nurse Aide at St. Mary’s Hospital in Rochester Minnesota. She eventually enrolled in St. Mary’s School of Nursing (Mayo Clinic) and became a Registered Nurse. Betty worked as a nurse at St. Mary’s Hospital, raised four sons, returned to work as a school nurse in an elementary school in Wisconsin, and finished her working career in 1987 at the Macomb County Health Department. At the end of her life, Betty developed dementia, but listening and caring for others were embedded gifts that never left her. Betty and Dick were married on May 1, 1954. They enjoyed 66 years of love-filled marriage together. They worked through life’s challenges in different ways but in resilient, complementary fashion. Betty deeply loved her husband and her family. She was drawn to the beauty of life in the world around her. Her smile was radiant, she listened to others intently, and she had a warm way with people. She valued education and she will be well-remembered for the beautiful, personalized messages she often wrote to others. She enjoyed nature, golf, tennis and traveling, having seen many of the world's most wondrous places. Toward the end of her life she needed to know that her family was healthy, doing well, and having fun. She told others to drink milk and eat vegetables but she loved her cake, pie, and ice cream. Betty is preceded in death (by five days) by her husband, Dick; her precious daughter, Mary Elizabeth Coleman; and her sisters-in-law Jane Thomas and Sandi Coleman. Betty is survived by her sons Kevin (Julie), Michael (Michelle), Thomas (Janice), and Daniel (Bridget); beloved grandchildren David, Alan, Carolyn, Sarah, Eric, Matthew, Joseph, Elizabeth, Lauren, Mary, and Liam; and special family members John and Pam Coleman, James and Lili Coleman, and Thomas Thomas. Services for Dick and Betty will be held on Friday, July 31st, 2020. A private rosary service will begin at 10:00 a.m. followed by eulogies of Dick and Betty and may be viewed online at rjfh.tv.The family will receive friends from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Reynolds-Jonkhoff Funeral Home (305 Sixth St., Traverse City). A funeral mass will be held immediately afterward at 1 p.m. at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church. Fr. Don Geyman will celebrate the mass. For those unable to attend the mass will be broadcast at sfparish.org beginning at 12:55 p.m.. Follow the Facebook link. Please observe and respect current health and safety guidelines, facemasks will be required. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be directed to the Interlochen Arts Academy or the BrightFocus Foundation Macular Degeneration Fund. Dick and Betty will be laid to rest at St. Joseph Catholic Cemetery, Old Mission Peninsula, at a later date. Dick will also receive military honors at that time. Share a memory of Dick and Betty at www.reynolds-jonkhoff.com Arrangements with the Reynolds-Jonkhoff Funeral Home and Cremation Services.

Elizabeth "Betty" Ann Coleman

September 2, 1929 - July 17, 2020

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