Betty Nell (Kelley) Dennis

I, Betty Nell Kelley Dennis was born on a Sunday afternoon August 22, 1943 in Pawnee, Oklahoma to Kenneth William and Nellie Minerva Ellington Kelley. I passed through the veil into the spirit world on September 4, 2024 at my home in Pawnee, OK. I grew up being very close to my Kelley cousins, aunts and uncles and several great aunts and uncles here in Pawnee. I grew up with friends when I was young and kept them through grade school, high school and into my adult life. I grew up in the very best of times. When we were in the seventh grade, we began to have dance parties on the patios in the summertime and in the kitchens during winter and this has been apart of all our lives and we are still dancing. After football games we would go to the Bear’s Den and dance to the music of Elvis, Johnny Mathis, The Platters, and Bobby Darren which were legends and still are iconic today. I joined the order of Rainbow for girls and was active in it until I graduated high school. Every year we chose a resort and had Rainbow camp for a week, having a lot of fun and making lifetime memories. We all looked forward, to Rainbow-Demolay Christmas, Valetines, and St. Patricks Day dances. Rainbow was one of the highlights of my teenage years as I progressed to become Worthy Advisor my senior year. I also loved being a cheerleader in Junior High and High School. I graduated from Pawnee High School with the class of 1961. After graduation I attended Northern Oklahoma Junior college then graduated from Oklahoma State University, with a degree in Medical Technology. I married Robert Wayne Dennis on June 12, 1965 at the First Christian Church in Pawnee. We moved to Tulsa, OK where I began my 12 month internship at Hillcrest hospital then I started working for a private lab. While living in Tulsa, Bob and I were baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints on February 1, 1969. We were sealed in the Logan, Utah temple on July 22, 1970. I continued my career as a medical technologist for a private laboratory until Oct 22, 1970 when our first child, Audrey Lynn, was born. In March of 1971, we bought the Kelley Implement company in Pawnee, OK from my uncle Cecil Kelley and moved to Pawnee where I gave up my career as a medical technologist and became a bookkeeper. Bob and I had four more children, Gary Wayne, Robert William, Karla Ann, and Michael Lorne. As my boys grew, I became a Cub Scout leader and Cub Master. When Oklahoma 4-H incorporated shooting sports in 1981 into the curriculum, I became the first 4-H shooting sports coach for Pawnee County. Over my 16 years of coaching, I taught many 4-H and FFA youth how to shoot skeet and trap. They were all outstanding shooters. We brought home many team and individual trophies at State meets competing against much larger county programs. I was always very proud of my shooters. I am proud of my children for their accomplishments but especially for their testimony of Christ. I held many callings in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, mostly working with the youth in the Cushing Ward, in Cushing, OK. My favorite calling was a Seminary teacher where I taught home study and early morning Seminary for 12 years. My Seminary students were the cream of the crop in the Stillwater Stake. They were very diligent in attending class and paying attention. After Bob passed away and Michael graduated from High School, I resumed my career as a medical technologist at the Pawnee Municipal Hospital for 6 years. In 2007, I became a temple worker at the Oklahoma City Temple and went to the temple once a week creating a close friendship with Jan Applegate, Jan Hansen, and Rose Gagnon as we rode together. I continued to be a temple worker until I left for my mission where I was called to serve in the Australia Perth Mission in February 2008. I served for 18 months. I was able to teach the gospel with several younger sisters as well as work in the Mission office. My favorite place was Albany, Western Australia. I am survived by my ten children, Audrey and Scott Neal, Gary and Tara Dennis, Robert and Monica Dennis, Karla Ann and Taylor Jimenez, and Michael and Leah Dennis. Also 19 grandchildren, Alexandria, Dylan and Julianna Neal, Dara, Reed, Garren, Rhett, Annika, Madisen and McKelle Dennis, Hannah, McKay and Keelan Dennis, Darin, Lainey, Sebastian and Oliver Jimenez and Ava and Alysse Dennis. My three sisters, Janice and Johnny Bryant, Annetta Franks and Cindy Jennings and many close cousins, nieces and nephews and very close friends. I was preceeded in death by my husband Bob, parents, Kenneth and Minerva Kelley, my grandparents, Warren and Mary and Cora Kelley, H.M. and Nellie Ellington, Charlie Franks and Bill Jennings and many aunts, uncles and great aunts and uncles and friends. I want to thank my family and many friends for the loving kindness they showed to me in the last three years. To my grandchildren, Listen to what I have to say, I have a great love for Seminary and think it is the most important program the church has for youth, pay attention and stay alert each morning as you attend class even though it is at 6am, because you will come to know Christ better as you study the gospel for 4 years. To my family, relatives and my friends I want you to know that I know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, our Savior and Redeemer. I know that he restored his true church in 1830 through his prophet Joseph Smith. I know through the power of the Holy Ghost that the Book of Mormon is a testament of Jesus Christ, that it contains the fullness of the gospel and that it was written by prophets here upon the Western Hemisphere and will bring us closer to Christ if we abide by its doctrine. I share this testimony with each of you in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.