Obituary for Betty Jean Lenz
Betty Jean Gilmer Lenz, loving friend, daughter, wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, passed away on June 8th, 2020, at age 94, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. She was born March 2,1926, to Alva Pearl (Murphy) and Stephen Gilmer, off Shallowfield Road, near Burkburnett, Texas.
At age 6, the family moved to Stoneburg, Texas, with the Murphy family, and then later to Lawton, Oklahoma, where she graduated from Lawton High School, and was a member of the "Coquettes". Betty attended Oklahoma College for Women, at Chickasha, Oklahoma, where she studied Art, and, also, attended Cameron College in Lawton. She painted landscapes and still life, in watercolors and oils, her entire life.
She met her sweetheart, George Alton Lenz in school, in Lawton, and they were married on December 22, 1946, when he came home from the Navy after WWII. They were married almost 55 years when "Al" passed away, in 2001. Betty and Al lived briefly in Norman, Oklahoma, then Lawton, Oklahoma, Wichita Falls, Texas, Iowa Park, Texas, Abilene, Texas, Canyon Lake, Texas, Littleton, Colorado, Grand Junction, Colorado, and Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Betty loved Colorado and the Rocky Mountains as well as the Texas limestone bottom lakes, the Colorado and Texas wildflowers, which she painted many times on canvases. She was a Realtor and a Real Estate Broker, in Denver and Grand Junction. Most of her years as a widow were spent at Canyon Lake, TX, where she was active in the Canyon Lake Baptist Church, NSDAR, honored by DAR for her service to the Essay contest for High School Students, Colonial Dames, and the Canyon Lake Art Guild.
Betty and Al had 5 children, 9 grandchildren, and 24 great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her sisters, Joline Gilmer, Joy Gilmer Jenne, and her brother Bruce Gilmer, as well as her daughter, Melissa Jane Lenz, and husband, Al Lenz, not to mention parents and in-laws who were so dear to her.
Betty is survived by daughter Vicki Lenz Gearhart (husband, Don), daughter Shelley Lenz Gustafson (husband Chuck), daughter Mandy Lenz Sulfrian (husband, Charlie), and son George Alton Lenz II (wife Jajean), as well as all her grandchildren (spouses), great-grandchildren, two nieces, JoAnn Jenne Crites, Mary Jenne Boyter, nephew, Mike Lenz, and their families.
She will be cremated at Evergreen Funeral Home, 1830 E. Fountain Blvd, Colorado Springs, Colorado, 80910.
There will be a graveside service in the summer/ fall of 2020, at Hopewell Cemetery, 14,508 FM 1806, near Bowie, Texas. Reverend Larry Kennedy, of Stoneburg Baptist Church, will officiate.
Donations, in lieu of flowers, may be made in memory of Betty Jean Gilmer Lenz to:
1. Hopewell Cemetery Association, 4446 Belknap Creek Rd., Bellevue, TX, 76228
2. Stoneburg Baptist Church, 8266 US Highway 81N, Bowie, TX, 76230
At age 6, the family moved to Stoneburg, Texas, with the Murphy family, and then later to Lawton, Oklahoma, where she graduated from Lawton High School, and was a member of the "Coquettes". Betty attended Oklahoma College for Women, at Chickasha, Oklahoma, where she studied Art, and, also, attended Cameron College in Lawton. She painted landscapes and still life, in watercolors and oils, her entire life.
She met her sweetheart, George Alton Lenz in school, in Lawton, and they were married on December 22, 1946, when he came home from the Navy after WWII. They were married almost 55 years when "Al" passed away, in 2001. Betty and Al lived briefly in Norman, Oklahoma, then Lawton, Oklahoma, Wichita Falls, Texas, Iowa Park, Texas, Abilene, Texas, Canyon Lake, Texas, Littleton, Colorado, Grand Junction, Colorado, and Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Betty loved Colorado and the Rocky Mountains as well as the Texas limestone bottom lakes, the Colorado and Texas wildflowers, which she painted many times on canvases. She was a Realtor and a Real Estate Broker, in Denver and Grand Junction. Most of her years as a widow were spent at Canyon Lake, TX, where she was active in the Canyon Lake Baptist Church, NSDAR, honored by DAR for her service to the Essay contest for High School Students, Colonial Dames, and the Canyon Lake Art Guild.
Betty and Al had 5 children, 9 grandchildren, and 24 great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her sisters, Joline Gilmer, Joy Gilmer Jenne, and her brother Bruce Gilmer, as well as her daughter, Melissa Jane Lenz, and husband, Al Lenz, not to mention parents and in-laws who were so dear to her.
Betty is survived by daughter Vicki Lenz Gearhart (husband, Don), daughter Shelley Lenz Gustafson (husband Chuck), daughter Mandy Lenz Sulfrian (husband, Charlie), and son George Alton Lenz II (wife Jajean), as well as all her grandchildren (spouses), great-grandchildren, two nieces, JoAnn Jenne Crites, Mary Jenne Boyter, nephew, Mike Lenz, and their families.
She will be cremated at Evergreen Funeral Home, 1830 E. Fountain Blvd, Colorado Springs, Colorado, 80910.
There will be a graveside service in the summer/ fall of 2020, at Hopewell Cemetery, 14,508 FM 1806, near Bowie, Texas. Reverend Larry Kennedy, of Stoneburg Baptist Church, will officiate.
Donations, in lieu of flowers, may be made in memory of Betty Jean Gilmer Lenz to:
1. Hopewell Cemetery Association, 4446 Belknap Creek Rd., Bellevue, TX, 76228
2. Stoneburg Baptist Church, 8266 US Highway 81N, Bowie, TX, 76230