Betty Holaday, 87, of Massena

Funeral Services:  Graveside Services will be held on Saturday, June 10, 2023, at 9:30 a.m. at the Massena Center Cemetery and her Celebration of Life Service will follow the burial at the Massena Baptist Church at 11:00 a.m. with a luncheon immediately following the service.  Pastor Josh Heisterkamp will officiate the service.  The Lamb Funeral Home in Massena is in charge of the professional arrangements.  Online condolences may be left to the family at to be www.lambfuneralhomes.com.

Open Visitation:  Will be held on Friday, June 9, 2023, at the Lamb Funeral Home in Massena from 2:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Family Visitation:  The family will greet friends on Friday evening at the Lamb Funeral Home in Massena from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Memorials:  May be directed to the family for distribution to Camp Witness in Long Pine, Nebraska and Raccoon River Bible Camp in Scranton, Iowa.

Betty Maxine (Lewis) Holaday was born on December 22, 1935, in Ayrshire, Iowa, to Charles Francis and Hallie Maxine (Wood) Lewis. She met her Lord and Savior face to face while sleeping peacefully on vacation in Custer, South Dakota, on May 27, 2023, at the age of 87.

Betty grew up in Ayrshire where she attended public school and graduated from Silver Lake Consolidated School in 1954. She graduated from Omaha Baptist Bible Institute in 1957. It was there that she met her future husband, Roger. She spent time working in Jackson, Mississippi, with Child Evangelism Fellowship, holding 5 Day Clubs after her college graduation. She enjoyed teaching children about the Lord and helping them memorize His Word. Betty’s faith was a strong one. She read her Bible daily, prayed tirelessly, shared her faith often and was a faithful member of Massena Baptist Church.

Betty and Roger were married at the First Baptist Church in Ayrshire on June 10, 1960. The couple made their home in rural Massena, Iowa, moving to the town of Massena in 1976. They farmed together for many years, Betty raising and caring for the chickens, raising a garden, canning and freezing produce, butchering chickens, selling eggs and raw milk.  She was a wonderful mother to their four children, Cynthia, Lynnette, Scott & William (Bill).

Betty worked as a waitress at Midway Café and Mary Lou’s Café. When Mary Lou’s closed, she went to work at Economy Market. She also did in-home day care. Later she went to work as a cook at Bridgewater Café. She retired shortly after Roger retired since driving and walking on ice became too treacherous for her.

Betty spent a lot of time volunteering. She led Bible Club at the Massena Baptist Church, taught Sunday School, helped with VBS and AWANA and led Bible Study. She was a Sparkette with the Massena Fire Department, baking cinnamon rolls for the Bingo fundraisers. She later became an Emergency Medical Technician for the Massena Fire Department and served the community on ambulance calls.

Betty spent a lot of time in prayer. In fact, many people would call or text her just to ask her to pray for something. She loved the Lord wholeheartedly and she felt that prayer was of utmost importance in her relationship with her Lord.

Betty was a great seamstress, sewing most of the clothing for the children and teaching her daughters how to sew. She was selfless in many things and she made sure her children had new clothes long before she got something new for herself. She enjoyed baking and took cookies to young families and cinnamon rolls to shut-ins. She was an avid reader. She also collected bells until she ran out of room for their display. She made quilts for each of her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Betty and Roger enjoyed traveling. They took several day trips to see the scenery around Iowa and Missouri. They took two big trips to the west coast. After Roger passed, Betty went on trips with her children and grandchildren.

Betty was preceded in death by her parents, her parents-in-law, William R. & Margaret (Jensen) Holaday, her husband Roger W. in 2015, her siblings Charles (Gaylord) Lewis, Norma (Lewis) Hanson and Joy Lynn (Lewis) Williams, sisters-in-law Joanne (Mortenson) Lewis and Carolyn (Holaday) Marlowe, brothers-in-law Harold Hanson and Elmer Williams.

Left to cherish her memory are her children Cynthia Holaday of Omaha, Lynnette & Craig Little of Panora, Scott & Miriam Holaday and William C. (Bill) & Shauna Holaday, of Massena;, her grandchildren Chris Little of Carroll, Cameron & Rachelle Little of Yale, Clayton & Lani Little of Forest City, Brooke & Austin Karas of Massena, Daniel & Hannah Holaday of Atlantic, Justin & Nyx Holaday of Powell, WY, Andrew Holaday of Massena, Katlyn & Nathan Beckman of Des Moines, Dakota Holaday of Long Pine, NE, and Whitney Holaday of Massena; 12 great-grandchildren, sister-in-law Marion Lewis of Emmetsburg, and brother-in-law Mick Marlowe of Lewisville, NC, many nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.