Betty Heim

 

December 2, 2021

Elizabeth "Betty" Agnes Pfeifer Heim, 100, Superior, died peacefully with family by her side on Friday, Nov. 26, 2021. She was born in St. Louis, Mo., on June 10, 1921, to Harry Robert Pfeifer, Jr. and Marie Kornfeind Pfeifer. At the time of her death, Betty was a resident of Dawson Place in Hill City, Kan.

Betty had an idyllic childhood growing up in St. Louis, Mo., with her parents and brother, Harry. She spoke

fondly of visits to the St. Louis Zoo, Muny Opera, Fox Theatre, O'Fallon Park and the 1933 Chicago World's Fair. She graduated from Beaumont High School in 1939, then attended college at the University of Missouri where she was an honor student majoring in journalism.

While at Mizzou, she was chosen by her Gamma Phi Beta sorority sisters

as their representative for campus beauty queen. She also attended Miss Hickey's Secretarial College.

After college, she returned to St. Louis where she worked in the program department for the radio station KWK-St. Louis located on the top floor of the historic Chase Hotel. During this time, she worked with legends such as Dizzy Dean and Harry Caray. She also loved to share the story that Hollywood star, Mickey Rooney, had asked her on a date, but instead, God had waiting for her a Chicago White Sox baseball player, Val Heim, who ended up being the love of her life.


After the war, they were married in West Palm Beach, Fla. They were married for more than 70 years and were blessed with two children, Diane Marie and Val Raymond, Jr.

Val and Betty moved their young family to Superior where Val was a player-manager for the semi-pro baseball team, the Superior Senators, and worked as a supervisor at Ideal Cement. Betty was a homemaker, volunteered for the Republican National Committee, was a faithful member of the First United Presbyterian Church and the Jolly Girls social club.


Always a child at heart, Betty enjoyed time with her children and grandchildren. Many beautiful memories were made painting, having drawing contests, looking forward to fairy visits and playing countless card games, such as Michigan, Help Your Neighbor and Piggy. She was also an avid collector of elephant figurines and enjoyed building collections for her family of collector's plates, Kewpie dolls, postage stamps and Hallmark ornaments.

She and Val liked playing golf, but nowhere more than at her son and daughter-in-law's Riverview Golf Course and Country Club in Sterling, Colo. They also enjoyed traveling with them on many trips to Las Vegas, Nev., and Toronto, Canada. She and Val were blessed to stay in their home in Superior until Val's passing in 2019. Later in life, when asked what her secret of longevity was, she said, "Good genes, and it also helps to have a little ice cream each day!" Above all, Betty knew she was a child of God and is now reunited in Heaven with her loving husband and family.


She is survived by daughter, Diane Heim Boyd, Hill City, Kan., and her family: Valerie Elizabeth (Ben) Kalny, Lake Quivira, Kan., and children Noah, Eli, Holli Jane and Lilly; Suzie (Wade) McDowell, Hill City, and children Lexie, Aaron and Brody; Robyn (Aubrey) Cathcart, Overland Park, Kan., and children Abigail, A.J., Amarie Elizabeth and Augie; and Kristin (Erik) Kemerling, Greenwood, Ind., and children Lauren, Annabelle, Quinn and Levi. Her son, Val Heim, Jr.


and his wife, Melody, Sterling, Colo., and their family: Val Heim III, Thornton, Colo., and daughter Ariauna; Joy (Mark) Mooberry, Omaha, and daughters Rachel (Blake) and Nicole; and Mercy Alpert, Los Angeles, Calif., and sons Derek, Lee and Harrison; and numerous nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her husband; parents; brother, Harry (Loretta) Pfeifer; and brother-in-law, Ray (Colleen) Heim; and son-in-law, Robert Boyd.

Visitation will be at 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., this Friday, Dec. 3, at Williams Funeral Home Chapel in Superior. A graveside service will be held at the Evergreen Cemetery immediately following the visitation with Pastor Mark Diehl officiating. Condolences may be sent to the family at wmsfh.com.


Mom and Grandma, we love you as high as the sky – and we know you love

us as deep as the ocean!

 

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