Betty Jo Ward

Betty Jo Ward, 84, of Allison, Iowa, passed away April 13, 2013, at the Waverly Health Center in Waverly, Iowa. She was born October 17, 1928, in Peotone, Illinois to Alfred and Veda (Gray) Ward. She attended Ballard County High School in La Center Kentucky. Betty was married to Arland O. Wynn Sr. in May 1943, in Poplar Bluff, Missouri. To this union one son was born Alfred Lee. In 1957, she was divorced and remarried to David S. Steele. After his passing in 1980, she was subsequently united in marriage to Ambrose Ward in 1990, at the Little Brown Church in Nashua. She worked as an insurance and real estate agent for Landers-Ulfers Insurance Agency in Allison before retiring in 2008. Betty was a member of the Eastern Star. She had a huge collection of decorative commemorative and geographic dinner plates. Betty loved to travel across the Midwest with her other widowed friends to attend country & western concerts, Conway Twitty was one of her favorites. She was an avid shopper, when she got too old to shop stores and malls, she shopped the catalogs. Her best friend was LaVera Dralle, they shared many laughs and stories in their golden years. Although she only had one child of her own, her son Alfie who she loved dearly, she was blessed with five step daughters; Karen, Linda, Nancy, Ruth and Mary. These five girls filled the void for the daughters she never had herself. She was a World War II "war" bride, whose first husband Arland Wynn, was on a US Navy ship fighting the Japanese in the far away south Pacific. As a teenager, she rode a train alone across the continent to spend a few months with Arland in California before he shipped out again toward Japan. The love of her life was David Steele, her second husband. They both sacrificed much to spend their lives together. They moved to Allison, Iowa over 30 years ago where David worked as a farm machinery salesman and Betty worked as an insurance and real estate agent. She once said, the happiest years of her life, were the ones spent with her son in La Center, Kentucky as he was growing up with baseball and basketball games and the years she and David Steele shared in Allison. Betty nursed two husbands and both her aging parents thru the final years of their lives from her home. Her unselfish commitment for their well-being will certainly never be forgotten by those who saw the sacrifices she made. She is survived by her son Captain Alfred Lee and wife Ann Wynn of Blanco, Texas, granddaughter Christina Wynn Manley of Rocklin, California, grandson John Scott Wynn of Lakewood, Colorado, great grandson Connor James Manley of Rocklin, California, sister Barbara Jean Boyd of Allison, 3 nephews Larry, Charles and Jeff Boyd, cousin Mildred Higdon of Waterloo, cousin Roberta Payne of La Center, Kentucky, second cousin Jerry Newton of La Center, Kentucky, step daughters Karen Ann Steele of Mantorville, Minnesota, Linda Steele Rutherford of Elkmont, Alabama, Nancy Steele Harrison of Mt. Dora, Florida, Ruth Steele of Deland, Florida and Mary Steele Black of Orlando, Florida and eight step grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her three husbands Arland Wynn, David Steele and Ambrose Ward, parents Alfred and Veda Ward.

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Betty Jo Ward

October 17, 1928 - April 13, 2013