JOPLIN, Mo. —
Betty Rose Faber McGovern, beloved wife of 53 years to Dr. Michael J. McGovern, passed away peacefully Monday night, March 18, 2013, after a long illness.
Betty Rose was born on Jan. 30, 1939, to Alvin and Amelia (Millie) Besch Faber in Whittemore, Iowa, where she was raised through her adolescence. She attended Whittemore Schools and graduated high school from Presentation Academy, where she loved singing first soprano. Betty Rose completed nurse's training and received her LPN. She worked as a licensed practical nurse for several years and also as medical assistant in her husband's veterinary practice from 1963 to 1971. After that, she became a full time homemaker raising her five cherished children. In addition to rearing five very active children, Betty Rose found time to be involved in her community, where she was the PTA president, taught Catechism and was a leader of an active Cub Scout Troop. After her husband joined the USDA she lived in New York, Montana and California, before settling in Joplin, Mo., where she has lived since 1996.
Besides her love of family, Betty Rose had many loves and interests. She loved and appreciated poetry and classical music, especially the music of Mozart. She loved the outdoors and enjoyed all the flora and fauna of spring, and she especially loved birds. Her favorite flower was not surprisingly the rose. She instilled in all her children and grandchildren a great love of the outdoors and an appreciation of nature. Betty was a beautiful woman inside and out. She had a radiant smile that could brighten and fill a room and hearty sense of humor that filled those who knew her with joy. She delighted in the successes of her children and attended all their many sporting events. She also delighted in her grandchildren's successes and proudly shared stories of all their antics with those who knew her well. She touched many lives and will be profoundly missed by her family and friends.
Besides her husband, left to cherish her memory are her children, Kenneth McGovern and his wife, Sally, Marie McGovern and her husband, Joel Hodnefield, David McGovern, Kathleen McGovern Frison and her husband, Don and Mark McGovern and his wife, Anna. Her legacy will live on through her beloved grandchildren, David Imberti, Jasmine and Tiffany Frison, Margaret Anne and Ford McGovern, Matthew and Patrick McGovern. Betty Rose was predeceased by her parents, several aunts and uncles, and her beloved aunts, Rosie and Emma Besch, with who she had a special relationship. She is survived by her siblings, Jeannette, Nancy, Mark, Dean and Joyce. She is also survived by her many sisters and brothers-in-law, many nieces, nephews and countless friends.
Funeral services will be held on Saturday, March 23, at 10 a.m. in Parker Mortuary Chapel with Father Justin Monaghan officiating. Interment will follow in Osborne Memorial Cemetery with grandchildren serving as pallbearers. A prayer service will be held on Friday at 6 p.m. in Parker Mortuary Chapel with visitation to follow.
Donations in Betty Rose's memory may be made to the Disabled American Veterans.
Online condolences may be made at www.parkermortuary.com
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