Betty Jane Beers

Betty S. Beers died Jan. 12, of complications related to congestive heart failure. She was 89. Mrs. Beers lived most of her life in the house she and her late husband built on Congress Hill Road in Franklin. For the last few years, she lived with her daughter in Cicero, NY, and near her son in Rose Haven Personal Care Home, in Indiana, PA. She was the wife of the late Mr. Walter H. Beers. They were married for 43 years when he died in 1987. In her later years, she was the longtime companion of the late Mr. Lloyd Snyder. Born Betty Jane Stephens in a house in Oil City, she was the oldest of five children of George and Alice Stephens. She graduated from Cranberry High School and Franklin Commercial College and worked as a secretary at Franklin Refinery. When World War II broke out, she took over the job of refinery statistician when her boss when off to war. She was tax collector of Sandy Creek Township for a dozen years starting in the 1970s. She was a homemaker and mother. Mrs. Beers was a 60-year member of Congress Hill Church of God, and volunteered for various charitable organizations, including Meals on Wheels. She enjoyed RVing and spent 40 years traveling in various recreational vehicles on trips to Canada, Florida, California, Wyoming and around the Great Lakes. She had an uncanny knack for striking up a conversation with a complete stranger at a distant destination, only to discover a Franklin connection or a shared family relationship. She loved to talk with people and find out about them. She was dedicated to her family and most at home cooking and cleaning up while family members gathered around the kitchen table talking and laughing. She liked to play cards, watch the birds at her feeder, and fish with her husband. Her prized catch was a 10-pound walleye. She loved to shop. Besides her parents, husband and longtime companion, she is preceded in death by three siblings, Mrs. Doris Montgomery, Mr. Jack Stephens and Mrs. Marian Dudzic. Surviving are her two children and their spouses, Rebecca Beers and Bill Steinbacher, of Cicero, NY, and Jeffrey and Kathy Beers, of Indiana, PA; and four grandchildren, Erin Shultz, of Kokomo, IN; Dr. Lindsey and Andy Penezic, of Harrisburg; Jeffrey Beers Jr., of Clemson, SC, and Shelly Beers, of Johnstown. Also surviving are a sister, Norma Morrison, of Phoenix; and Mr. Beers' siblings, Harold and Virginia Beers and Lois and Louis Lindsey, both of Franklin, and Marion Blair, of Florida. Also, many nieces and nephews, including Sally Kilmer, Nancy Witherup and Steve Stephens, of Franklin, and many grandnieces and grandnephews. Also, the children of her longtime partner, Shirley and Charlie Thatcher, Darlene Plowman, Denny and Carol Snyder, Cindy and Jim Dutko, and John and Patti Snyder, and Mr. Snyder's many grandchildren, whom she shared. Friends and family will be received at the Gardinier Funeral Home, Inc., 1315 Chestnut Street, Franklin, PA on Friday, January 14, from 3 to 7 p.m. Funeral services for Mrs. Beers will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, January 15, at the Funeral Home, with Rev. Johnny Pennington, pastor of the Congress Hill Church of God, officiating. Interment will follow in Sunset Hill Memorial Garden. The family suggests that memorial contributions be made to the Congress Hill Church of God, 406 Congress Hill Road, Franklin PA 16323. Online condolences may be sent to the family by visiting www.gardinierfuneralhome.com.