Betty Jane VanHorn

Betty Jane VanHorn (nee: Erne) was born January 14, 1923 in LaPorte Indiana to Ellery and Elsie Erne. She was the eldest child of five and had an adventurous and generous spirit early in life. Throughout her life she was a wife, mother, grandmother, great grandmother, sister, aunt, cousin, sun worshipper, traveler, dog lover and friend to many. She led a life filled with love, adventure and a desire to see the world.

In 1942, she graduated high school from La Porte, Indiana, then moved to Texas where she became a laboratory stenographer for the colonel at Ft. Bliss in Las Cruces, Texas. It is here that she met Vernon Ernest who was medical technologist at Ft Bliss. They were married and throughout their married life, they were blessed with 6 children Virginia, Barbara, Sandra, Linda, Timothy and Deborah.  After WWII, they moved to Yuma, Colorado and raised their family. Vern passed away in 1968.  The following year, Betty married Charles Marvin VanHorn. From that time on, Betty and Marv never slowed down! They spent their time traveling around the United States, Mexico and Canada. Betty always had a story to tell about all the beautiful places they visited and pictures galore to follow. Whether it was the circle rainbows at a waterfall in Hawaii, a caravan trip through Mexico or their annual winter trip to warmer weather, she lived for it, and never let grass grow under her feet.

Once retired from the business world, Betty and Marv relocated to Lake McConaughy, and in between their camper travels they hosted hundreds of family and friends and provided endless fun for all who visited. From children to grandchildren and great grandchildren, not to mention all of their friends, they always had an open door. Betty made room for everyone and never turned down the chance to have a visitor. She loved going to the lake, sitting on the beach, riding around in the boat and going fishing. But most of all, she loved doing those things with her family and friends. Betty was always working on crafts, loving her dogs or nurturing her plants. She made everything from beads out of wallpaper to purses out of jeans. She was very creative and imaginative! Betty loved her plants, especially her African Violets and lipstick plants. She certainly had a green thumb!

As time went on, she wanted to live closer to home but continued to love the lake, so they relocated by Lake Yuma.  Oh how she loved to take her walks down to the lake to watch the geese and the ducks. She had it planned out and knew every day when they would be landing on the lake and taking off. In Yuma she thrived with her family nearby and loved to go on walks and have visitors. She was always a social butterfly and never turned down an opportunity to sit on her porch swing, watch her squirrels and catch up with a loved one. No one will forget her vibrant personality and zest for life, especially the squirrels she religiously fed on 3rd Avenue.

Betty had a very large family with all of her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. They were the light of her life and she loved spending time with them. All of her grandchildren remember how she called every weekend to check in…and left really awesome messages on the answering machine if there was no answer.  The grandchildren laughed that when your 10 minutes were up, she abruptly cut the call so she could move on to the next grandkid on the list.

The final phase of her journey took her to live at Yuma Life Care Center.  On Saturday October 1, 2016, Betty left the living world to dwell in the House of the Lord forever.  

She is survived by her children Joe Meade, Barbara Flight (Larry), Sandra Agneberg (Larry), Linda Lindgren (Steve), Timothy Ernest (Loretta) and Deborah Spiers (James), and a multitude of cousins, nieces, nephews, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by spouse Vernon Ernest, spouse Charles Marvin VanHorn, daughter Virginia Meade, Son-in-law Lynn Robertson and grandsons Brad, Chad, and Tad Spanjer. She will always be remembered and loved.

Thank you to all who loved and cared for Betty.  The memorial service was held on Wednesday, October 5, 2016 at 11:00 a.m. at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Yuma, Colorado with Pastor Gary Rahe of Zion Lutheran Church in Holyoke officiating.  Baucke Funeral Home directed the service.