Betty Irene (McKnight) Wortman, 91, died Saturday, March 19, 2022 in her home in rural Wellsville.

Betty was born in Ottawa, Ill., on Feb. 9, 1931, the daughter of Patrick and Alma McKnight. She graduated from Wellsville High School in 1949 and afterward worked as a telephone operator.

She married Lawrence Wortman in 1950. He preceded her in death in 2019. They were a farm couple deeply attached to their land. Betty was a housewife, a mother, a farm hand and animal lover. She was always anxious to be sure everyone in her house was well fed and contributed innumerable dishes and baked goods to socials at Trinity Lutheran Church, five miles east of Wellsville. She was a member of the Trinity Ladies Aid Society.

When she wasn't busy in her kitchen she was usually out helping with farm work or making sure all the animals were fed. She loved farming time and was happiest out on a tractor, helping. She also helped her husband raise a large garden, canning produce and cooking a huge pile of corn on the cob each summer. Through the years she nursed a large number of orphaned livestock, saving them with hand-fed bottles. She often had a baby calf usually named Tilly or Buster. For years afterward, these animals would still come to the fence to greet her. She fed an ever-changing herd of cats that showed up twice a day at the barn to eat food she put out. Cats were always waiting and swarmed around the Gator when she started out to go feeding,

She was preceded in death by her husband, Lawrence Wortman, a granddaughter, Joanna Lynn Spiers, a brother, Pat McKnight and a brother-in-law, Harold Wehmeyer.

Survivors include her daughter Mary Patricia Spiers and son-in-law Wally Spiers of Belleville, Ill.; a granddaughter Alexandra Kelley and her husband Daniel Kelley of Belleville, Ill.; a grandson Matthew Spiers and his wife Rachel Spiers of rural Wellsville; two great-granddaughters, Zoey Farr of Wellsville and Isabella Kelley of Belleville, Ill., and a great-grandson, Lucas Farr of Wellsville; sister-in-law Doris Wehmeyer of Jefferson City; sister-in-law Alice Mayer and husband the Rev. Richard Mayer of Bentonville, Ark.; and sister-in-law Peggy McKnight of Wellsville.

Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday March 26, 2022, at the Trinity Lutheran Church near Wellsville. Visitation will be Saturday from Noon until service time. Burial will be in the Trinity Lutheran Cemetery next to the church.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Trinity Lutheran Church Building Fund. They may be sent in care of Myers Funeral Home, 203 E. Bates Street, Wellsville, MO 63384.