Betty L. (Burns) Venter passed away Saturday, Jan. 9, 2021. She was born to Della (Huey) Burns and Carl Burns in Indiana, Pa., Aug. 25, 1928. Betty was preceded in death by her husband, Bill, of New Kensington, her parents, her sisters, Dottie, Susan and Peggy, brother-in law, Walter Stapleton, brother-in-law, Paul Lewis, and son-in-law, Eddie Ryland. She is survived by her daughters, Janet Ryland, Beverly (Mike) Moore, Billie (John) Hoag, Barbara (Glenn) Schweitzer, and son, William (Beth) Venter, along with her grandchildren, Mary (Jordan) Fenstemaker, Karen (Jordan) Anderson, Audrey, Jacob, Ryan, Joey, Evan and Chris, step-grandchildren, Eric and Valerie, and great-grandchildren, Alexis, Braedyn and Finnley. She is also survived by her brother, Bob (Judy) Burns, and sister, Geri Stapleton. Betty retired from AT&T having worked for Bell of Pennsylvania, Southwestern Bell, Chesapeake & Potomac, Ohio Bell and AT&T, accumulating 35 years of service. She was a member of the Wadsworth United Methodist Church and Telephone Pioneers of America. To honor Mom's wishes, there will be no calling hours. A private service will be held Friday, Jan. 15, 2021, at Ohio Western Reserve National Cemetery. A celebration of life will be held later due to COVID. Memorial donations may be made in her memory to any of your favorite charities. Arrangements have been entrusted to COX-McNULTY FUNERAL HOME of Wadsworth. In her spare time, keeping up on current events was important to Betty and she maintained her newspaper subscriptions to stay on top of things. She was always looking for a good book to read and loved to share what she learned. She loved reading biographies. She also loved coordinating outfits with her large collection of earrings, necklaces and bracelets. Over the last few years, she developed a passion for Bingo. She couldn't wait to collect her winnings in quarters so she could shop at the Concordia Bingo Store. She enjoyed shopping and finding bargains and often asked people who visited her if they could use one of the "treasures" she had purchased. She also had the privilege of traveling to Germany and wanted to travel abroad. Since she couldn't, friends and family would send post -cards from their world travels in which she found much joy. When Betty served as a telephone operator for Bell of Pennsylvania she enjoyed sharing the story of how she would connect calls on Saturday mornings between actor Jimmy Stewart and his parents, who resided in her hometown of Indiana. When family and friends would visit, there was great anticipation for playing a few lottery scratch off games and she looked forward to her visitors bringing tickets for her! Her sense of humor was clever and sassy and she liked to tell us "I'm 92 years old and can do what I want!" Betty missed her dearest friend, Liz Caretta, who went to be with the Lord in recent past. Betty, MOM, Grandma, Great Grandma and Friend will be dearly missed. We Love You, Mom. You are home.
Published in The Valley News Dispatch on Jan. 13, 2021.