Funeral Services for Betty Jean Ahlers, age 90, of O'Neill, formerly of Naper, NE and Sun City, AZ, will be 10 am Saturday, November 17, 2018 at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Naper with burial in the St. Paul Lutheran Cemetery.  Pastor Paul Hirsch will officiate.  Music will be provided by Lisa Reiman and congregational singing. Visitation will be from 5-7 pm Friday, November 16, 2018 at Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church in O'Neill.  Betty passed away on Monday, November 12, 2018 at the Blue Hill Care Center in Blue Hill, Nebraska. Memorials may be to Beautiful Savior Ev. Lutheran Church of O'Neill or St. Paul's Ev. Lutheran Church of Naper.  Biglin's Mortuary in O'Neill is in charge of arrangements.

Pallbearers will be her grandsons and grandsons-in-law Adam Pavelka, Chris Ahlers, Dan Pribil, Philip Ahlers, Matthew Ahlers, Joel Macklin, Jason Weber, Kurt Hoppe and Zak Grosinske.

Honorary pallbearers will be her granddaughters and granddaughters-in-law Sara Macklin, Kerry Grosinske, Vicki Pribil, Michelle Weber, Julie Hoppe, Laura Ahlers, Anna Ahlers, Sara Ahlers and Ashley Pavelka.

Betty Jean Conklin was born September 21, 1928, along with a twin brother, to Earl and Libby (Sedlacek) Conklin at Spencer, NE.  She attended country school and then graduated from Spencer High School in 1945.

After graduating from high school, Betty taught country school.   While teaching at a country school near Naper, she met a young man who had just come home from the service.  This young man, Walter Ahlers, happened to be the son of the people with whom Betty was boarding.  The young couple fell in love and married on December 24, 1948.  This was their second wedding date because a blizzard caused them to postpone their wedding.  Betty and Walter remained faithfully married for 66 years until his passing.  Four children were born to this union.

Betty was confirmed into the Lutheran faith soon after her marriage to Walter.  She remained a devout Lutheran throughout her life.

A dedicated farmer's wife, Betty cooked many meals for extended family gatherings and church events.  She prepared food for mission festivals and enjoyed attending ladies missionary group meetings.  Betty provided many hours of service to her church, was the co-leader of the local 4-H club, and was involved in community organizations.  In the late 1960's, she took an off-the-farm job at the Butte Nursing Center.  In 1974, she earned her Geriatric Aide Certificate.

In 1991, Walter and Betty retired from the farm and moved to O'Neill.  While living in O'Neill, they traveled often in their motorhome, including trips to both coasts and Alaska.  Often their travels included searching for family history.  Betty's first purchase as a teacher was a Brownie camera, starting a life-love of photographs.  She spent countless hours compiling family photo albums, and leaves behind a very extensive collection of family trees, history stories, and photographs.

In 2010, the couple moved to Sun City, AZ, where their oldest son was and is yet, a pastor at Our Savior Ev. Lutheran Church.  A year after Walter's death in 2015, Betty moved back to Nebraska and resided at the Evergreen Assisted Living Center.  In July, 2018, she moved to the Blue Hill Care Center.

Betty is survived by her four children and their spouses:  Bruce and wife Barb of Sun City, AZ; LouAnn Pribil and husband Bill of O'Neill; Sharon Pavelka and husband Stan of Bladen, NE and Kem and wife Kathy of Raleigh, NC.  She also is survived by 12 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren; a sister-in-law Luceil Conklin of Lynch; brothers and sisters-in-law Wayne and Virginia Ahlers of O'Neill and Arlen and Dottie Ahlers of Pierce, NE.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband Walter Ahlers; her twin brother, Robert Conklin; brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law Lawrence and Gladys Ahlers and Roger and Linda Lunderborg.