Bettelee F. Lewis

Bettelee Mary Frahm Lewis, 92, of Kearney died Thursday, June 16, 2016 at CHI – Good Samaritan Hospital in Kearney. Celebration of Life services will be Wednesday, June 22, 2016 at 10:30 a.m. at Horner Lieske McBride & Kuhl Funeral Home in Kearney. Memorials are suggested to Hastings Symphony Orchestra, Kearney Symphony Orchestra, Great Platte River Road Archway Monument, and Kearney YMCA. Visit www.hlmkfuneral.com to leave a tribute or message of condolence. Bettelee was born December 14, 1923 in Blue Hill, NE to Arthur and Hazel (Lovitt) Frahm. She was raised on a farm near Blue Hill until her father died in 1934. Her family relocated to Kearney and a year later moved to Fairfield, NE. She graduated from Kearney State College in 1947 and married Robert L. Lewis. She obtained her graduate degree in physical education and dance from the University of Wyoming in 1950. Bettelee began teaching in the Amherst Public Schools while still a student at Kearney State Teachers College. She taught in Shelton, Grand Island and Campbell before taking a position with the Wilcox Public Schools. She introduced a string program during her tenure at Wilcox – making Wilcox one of the smallest schools to have such a program. In Wilcox Bettelee also taught physical education, home economics and biology, and coached volleyball. In 1977 she became Orchestra Director and String Specialist for the Kearney Public Schools. She was the orchestra director in Kearney Public Schools until retiring in 1989. She also taught part time at the University of Nebraska at Kearney. Bettelee has been a member of the Hastings Symphony Orchestra for 78 years and a member of the Kearney Symphony Orchestra since 1941. She was inducted into the Nebraska Music Educators Hall of Fame in 1990 and was awarded the Kearney Hub Freedom Award in Education in 2015. Bettelee was an avid golfer at the Kearney Country Club, did volunteer work at The Archway and is a board member at the Kearney Family YMCA. She was a member of the EG Chapter of PEO. Surviving relatives include her daughter, Mary Lynn Lewis Sands of Topeka, KS, son, Ronald Lee Lewis of Saint Simons Island, Georgia, and grandchildren Britton and Amanda Lewis of Tampa, Florida. She was preceded in death by her parents and former husband Robert L. Lewis.

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Bettelee F. Lewis

December 14, 1923 - June 16, 2016