Betty J. Armstrong

Betty J. Armstrong, 93, a longtime resident of Ottawa, Kansas, died peacefully in her sleep June 26, 2017. She was an active member of Calvary Baptist Church, a budding ceramic artist, doting grandmother and, more recently, a great-grandmother. Betty Jane Breibeck was born in North Kansas City, Missouri, the second child of Francis and Lavina Breibeck. She grew up during the Great Depression, but fortunately both parents worked; her father was a bus driver and her mother was a secretary; so, Betty and her brother Raymond had a relatively comfortable childhood by the standards of the day. Later she fondly remembered her early years at Mount Washington Baptist Church, where her mother taught Sunday school and where she made many lifelong friends. She grew to be a popular and successful student at Northeast High School, where she joined the National Honor Society, graduating in 1941. After attending a few classes at the local community college, Betty found employment on roller skates. While working at the Montgomery Ward catalog fulfillment center in downtown Kansas City, picking up merchandise and sending it out for the mail order business, the pretty 18-year-old caught the eye of Mark Armstrong, a handsome and athletic young man-on-wheels. Mark and Betty married in Oklahoma City in 1943, and they soon moved to Brownsville, Texas, where Mark worked for Pan American Airways as a flight navigator. He traveled weekly to South America, occasionally bringing back exotic orchids that grew along roadsides in Panama for his young bride. By the time their first child, John, was born in 1947, the couple had moved back to the Kansas City area, where they were partners in founding a new business, Armstrong Cabinet Company. It was a time of strong economic growth in the United States, and the company expanded rapidly. During those early years, while working with her husband in the business, Betty also gave birth to two more children. Kathleen was born in 1951 and Kristeen arrived in 1956. As the business outgrew its original location, Armstrong Cabinet Company moved, first to Merriam, Kansas, and then to Ottawa, Kansas. As they grew older, Betty and Mark slowly handed over responsibility for the business to another couple; their daughter, Kristeen and her husband Lowell Scott. They continue to operate it today as Armstrong Kitchens, in Overland Park, Kansas. While working hard to build a business and raise a family, Betty and Mark continued to be active in their church and in other faith-based organizations. Their Christian belief helped to sustain them through their grief following the premature deaths of two grandsons, Anthony and Timothy Armstrong. Over the years they have volunteered and donated to many Christian causes; Youth for Christ, Roloff Enterprises, Calvary Baptist Church in Ottawa, New Horizon Ranch in Rantoul, and many others. After her husband, partner, and best friend Mark died in 2011, Betty continued to be devoted to her family. Sadly, during this time her son John also died and, once again, her faith sustained her. As the years passed, her loving relations with her two grandsons, Mark and Eric Scott grew. She also enjoyed visits with her two Michigan granddaughters, Elizabeth (Letts) Mohammed and Sarah (Letts) Holland, whose weddings she attended in 2013 and 2014. In 2015, Betty’s first great-grandson, Henry Letts Mohammed, was born. Even though she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2012, Betty still managed to enjoy her life; taking classes in ceramics at the local high school, attending church and participating in social events and parties. The Scotts welcomed Betty into their extended family and included her in all their many celebrations. During the 2017 Easter party at the farm of Lyle, Marcia and Jed Scott, she enjoyed holding the new lambs that also attended. She was also present at the 2016 wedding of her “honorary” granddaughter, Becca Scott to Cody Crump. The Rev. Lynn Scott was a special help at the end of her life, extending advice and spiritual comfort to Betty and her family. With the help of on-site professional support and the loving care and assistance of grandsons, Mark and Eric, Betty could stay in her home until shortly before she passed away. In her last days, she told her daughter Kristeen how much she loved her life and that she felt “so lucky” in her family. Betty is survived by her daughter, Kathleen (Armstrong) Letts and husband Charles E. III and Kristeen (Armstrong) Scott and husband Lowell and members of the extended Scott family; grandchildren, Matthew Armstrong, Elizabeth (Letts) Mohammed and husband Daren, Sarah (Letts) Holland and husband Derek, Mark Scott and Eric Scott; great-grandson, Henry Letts Mohammed; daughter-in-law, Cindy Armstrong; step-granddaughter, Tabetha Armstrong; and a nephew, David Breibeck and his family. She was preceded in death by her parents, Francis and Lavina Breibeck; husband, Mark Armstrong; son, John Armstrong; two grandsons, Anthony and Timothy Armstrong; and brother, Raymond Breibeck. The family suggests memorial contributions to Calvary Baptist Church or New Horizon Ranch (for people with disabilities) c/o Dengel & Son Mortuary, 235 S. Hickory, Ottawa, Kansas 66067. Family and friends are encouraged to post their condolences and memories on Betty’s Tribute Wall at www.dengelmortuary.com