Betty Mae (Smith) Porter

Betty Mae (Smith) Porter, 73, of Newton, formerly of Monroe died Saturday, August 22, at her home, surrounded by her family. 

Betty was born July 23, 1942, in Marshalltown, Iowa, to Leonard and Twila (Earhart) Smith.  She was raised in the Union, Whitten area and graduated from Union-Whitten High School in 1960.  In 1962, after a two week courtship with Gene Porter, Betty married the love of her life.  They were married 53 years.  To this union there were 4 daughters.  Betty retired in 1998 from Pella Corporation.  In their retirement, Gene and Betty travelled all over the western United States, even spending a month in Alaska.

Betty’s hobbies included playing cards, crafting, painting, Bingo and especially enjoyed attending Cowboy Church.

Upon discovering the sudden diagnosis of her advanced stage pancreatic cancer, Betty regretted being such a good mom.  She thought if she’d been meaner the kids wouldn’t miss her so much.   She always put her family before herself.  Gene said “Mom would fight a cage full of lions for her girls.”  It was Betty’s wish that she and Gene both be cremated and commingle their remains because she had kept him this long, she wasn’t going to let him go now.

Betty will be forever missed by her husband, Edgar E. (Gene) Porter, her children:  Brenda (Jay) DeHaai, Tammy (Dale) Schmidt, Connie (Patrick) Knowles, and Lori (Brian) Carlyle;  14 grandchildren:  Alan (Vicki) DeHaai, Jayson (Kristi) DeHaai, Janine (Jeff) Bauer, Alicia (Grant) Smith, Lucas (Joni) Smith, David (Lacey) Knowles, Danielle Smith (Collins Barber), Fred Horstman (Rachel Sheers), Jordan Knowles, Spencer Rinehart (Jessica Woods), Sydney Rinehart (Chris Vos) , Zach Carlyle, Shawna Leimbacher, Justin Carlyle; and 14 great grandchildren:   Zachary, Dalten, Matthew, Jessica Ashley, Cohen, Norah, Chanse, Izaiah, Aiden, Zander, Landon, Brystol and Hudson.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her sister Leanna, and her great grandson Legend Dean.

Services for Betty Porter will be held Saturday, September 12, 2015 at the Newton Arboretum and Botanical Garden with visitation beginning at 2:00 p.m. and a Celebration of Life Service at 3:30 p.m.

For those desiring, the family would be honored by memorials sent to Care Initiatives Hospice.

Johnson Funeral Service is assisting Gene and the girls with funeral arrangments.

To leave a condolence for the family please go to www.johnsonfsiowa.com.