HOLLAND, Bette Jean (Wick) (1922 - 1998)

HOLLAND, WICK, YAMASHITA, KUHNES, YAMADA, ZECEVIC, KORFF, BUFFINGTON, HAMMER

Posted By: County Coordinator (email)
Date: 2/1/2025 at 07:04:20

Bette Jean Holland, 75, of Cleghorn, Iowa and formerly of LeMars, Iowa, passed away Wednesday, July 15, 1998, at her home in Cleghorn.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, July 18 at the First Methodist Church in LeMars. There will be a private burial at a later date as she will be cremated.

Mrs. Holland was born November 15, 1922, in Sioux City, Iowa to Robert and Helen Wick. The family lived in Tyndall, S.D. for 14-15 years and moved to LeMars in her sophomore year of high school. She joined the U.S. Navy after her first year of college and trained as a radio operator on board blimps on the West Coast during World War II. After her discharge she returned to Western union College in LeMars and graduated in 1947. On October 2, 1946, she married Bailus “Dutch” Holland. She taught school in the Remsen-Union school district for many years and worked for many years at Nemmers Plumbing. She and her husband supervised the Willow Creek campground for the city of LeMars for many years. They wintered in Scottsdale, Arizona for the past 22 years. They had been attending the Cleghorn Presbyterian Church for several years during the summer and while in Arizona, attended church at Glass and Garden in Scottsdale. She was a 50-year member of the Order of Eastern Star, and was an active church member all her life. She enjoyed family times, especially camping, cards and bingo.

Survivors include her husband, Dutch; four daughters: Bonnie Jean and her husband Kiyo Yamashita, of Japan; Barbara Jo and her husband, Kevin Kuhnes, Cleghorn; Bobbette Joann and her husband Keizo Yamada, LeMars; and Beverly and her husband, Yanko Zecevic, Valdez, Alaska; 12 grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; a sister, Barbara and her husband, Ray Korff, LeMars; two aunts: Marian Buffington, Millegeville, Illinois; and Edith Buffington, Mesa, Arizona; and many nieces, nephews and friends.

She was preceded in death by her parents; a sister, Bonny and her husband, Richard Hammer and their daughter; and a brother-in-law, Paul Holland. (Source: Former Cherokee County Historical Society scrapbook clipping dated July 16, 1998)