Obituary for Betty Lafern Isaacs (Montgomery)
Betty LaFern Montgomery Isaacs was born the tenth of eleven children to John Thomas and Nina Maye (Waddell) Montgomery on October 22, 1935, in Crawford County Arkansas. She departed this life to be with the Lord September 21, 2022.
Betty attended elementary school in Kibler and then graduated from Van Buren High School in 1953. She graduated on a Friday night and started working the following Monday morning as a bookkeeper for Farmers Livestock Commission Company in Fort Smith. It was while working at Farmers that she met her future husband, LC Isaacs. They were married in 1955 and made their home in Stilwell, Oklahoma. They had three children: Roger, Kathy and Donna.
Betty started working for Zion School in the fall of 1963 as their cook. She took the job because the principal was a friend of LCs, and the school really needed a cook. She loved the children and the job so during the summer breaks she attended workshops the state department sponsored in the county. She also took all the nutrition courses that were offered at Northeastern Oklahoma State University and was certified at Manager I and Manager 2 levels by the State of Oklahoma. Over the years the job became more than just cooking, there was a lot of paperwork involved for the state department. She also taught children nutrition, food choices and about the Food Pyramid.
Over the years, she worked for three different principals. She kept head count records that qualified the school for their reimbursement checks from the state department, and she kept the children’s codes confidential. When the third principal took over, she put all the records on computer. Her title for the last twelve years that she worked became “Food Service Director.” She retired in 2002 after 38 years at Zion School.
Betty was baptized and became a member of the First Christian Church in Stilwell on November 11, 1962. She raised their three children in the church. Through her example LC was baptized in May 1985. She worked in Vacation Bible School while her children were in school. She assisted with funeral dinners at the church after her retirement. She also served on the church’s missions committee. She attended services at the church until her health declined.
She was preceded in death by her father, mother, husband, daughter Kathy (Isaacs) Jackson, grandson Andrew Jackson, her six brothers and their spouses: Ray, Floyd (Edith), Willard (Kathleen), Harry (Geraldine), Elmer (Margie) and Charles (Ruth) and her four sisters: Vera Montgomery, Lois Rogers (J.B.), Rose Brammer (Glenn) and Mary Montgomery.
She is survived by her son Roger Isaacs of Stilwell, daughter Donna Jackson (Todd) Claremore, OK, five grandchildren: Katie Harlin (Caleb) Muskogee, OK; Jonathan Jackson (Rachael) Claremore, OK; Tabitha Dunham (Mitch) Lexington, SC; Joseph Jackson (Melissa), Edmond, OK; and Seth Jackson, Edmond, OK.
She also has fifteen great-grandchildren, several nephews and nieces.
Online tributes: www.ockerfuneralhome.com
Betty attended elementary school in Kibler and then graduated from Van Buren High School in 1953. She graduated on a Friday night and started working the following Monday morning as a bookkeeper for Farmers Livestock Commission Company in Fort Smith. It was while working at Farmers that she met her future husband, LC Isaacs. They were married in 1955 and made their home in Stilwell, Oklahoma. They had three children: Roger, Kathy and Donna.
Betty started working for Zion School in the fall of 1963 as their cook. She took the job because the principal was a friend of LCs, and the school really needed a cook. She loved the children and the job so during the summer breaks she attended workshops the state department sponsored in the county. She also took all the nutrition courses that were offered at Northeastern Oklahoma State University and was certified at Manager I and Manager 2 levels by the State of Oklahoma. Over the years the job became more than just cooking, there was a lot of paperwork involved for the state department. She also taught children nutrition, food choices and about the Food Pyramid.
Over the years, she worked for three different principals. She kept head count records that qualified the school for their reimbursement checks from the state department, and she kept the children’s codes confidential. When the third principal took over, she put all the records on computer. Her title for the last twelve years that she worked became “Food Service Director.” She retired in 2002 after 38 years at Zion School.
Betty was baptized and became a member of the First Christian Church in Stilwell on November 11, 1962. She raised their three children in the church. Through her example LC was baptized in May 1985. She worked in Vacation Bible School while her children were in school. She assisted with funeral dinners at the church after her retirement. She also served on the church’s missions committee. She attended services at the church until her health declined.
She was preceded in death by her father, mother, husband, daughter Kathy (Isaacs) Jackson, grandson Andrew Jackson, her six brothers and their spouses: Ray, Floyd (Edith), Willard (Kathleen), Harry (Geraldine), Elmer (Margie) and Charles (Ruth) and her four sisters: Vera Montgomery, Lois Rogers (J.B.), Rose Brammer (Glenn) and Mary Montgomery.
She is survived by her son Roger Isaacs of Stilwell, daughter Donna Jackson (Todd) Claremore, OK, five grandchildren: Katie Harlin (Caleb) Muskogee, OK; Jonathan Jackson (Rachael) Claremore, OK; Tabitha Dunham (Mitch) Lexington, SC; Joseph Jackson (Melissa), Edmond, OK; and Seth Jackson, Edmond, OK.
She also has fifteen great-grandchildren, several nephews and nieces.
Online tributes: www.ockerfuneralhome.com