Betty Kunz

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Funeral service for Betty Kunz will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, June 2 at Martin-Mattice Funeral Home in Emmetsburg. The Rev. Peter Morlock will officiate. Visitation will be 9:30-11 a.m. Friday, June 2 at Martin-Mattice Funeral Home in Emmetsburg. Burial to be held at a later date at Evergreen Cemetery in Emmetsburg. Memorials may be given to Bethany Lutheran Church in Emmetsburg.
Betty Lou (Johnson) Kunz went to join her husband LeRoy John Kunz in eternal rest on May 26, 2023. She was born on June 1, 1927 in Emmetsburg. Betty was 95 years old and passed away peacefully in hospice at PARC Hall. She lived her entire life in Emmetsburg and was a loving wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. 
One of Betty’s favorite hymns was “He Leadeth Me” - “He leadeth me, O blessed thought, O words with heavenly comfort fraught, Whate’er I do, Where’er I be, Still ‘tis God’s hand that leadeth me.” – J. H. Gilmore. 
The second youngest child of Arthur Johnson and Mae (Phelps) Johnson, Betty had two brothers Myrle and Lloyd, and two sisters Helen Frances Kuyper and Eileen “Babe” Buzzell. 
Betty and her sisters were always very close and in their later years Betty and Helen Frances both lived at Willow Ridge for a time. Betty and Babe talked on the phone often, chatting and reminiscing. 
In her younger years, Betty was voted Homecoming Queen while a senior at Emmetsburg High School in 1944. She was fond of going dancing at Arnolds Park at Lake Okoboji. 
Betty and her husband LeRoy met at the roller rink in Emmetsburg while attending separate high schools. Betty waited for LeRoy while he fought with the Navy in the Pacific during World War II, and soon after his return they were married on June 1, 1948 in Jackson, Minnesota.
When LeRoy started Kunz Refrigeration in Emmetsburg, Betty helped with the business answering phones and doing clerical work while raising their three children – Tony, Timothy, and Ann. In their spare time, Betty and LeRoy took pleasure in square dancing and once visited their daughter Ann when she lived in Frankfurt, Germany with her family. They built their house on Harrison Street and lived there for over 50 years. 
After LeRoy’s retirement, Betty and LeRoy took several bus tours together, with destinations including Canada and Alaska. Betty loved music and listened to jazz and piano and harp music on their screened-in porch while watching LeRoy tend to their garden.  
A lifelong member of Bethany Lutheran Church in Emmetsburg, Betty enjoyed Quilting Circle and baking Norwegian specialties like kringla for Scandinavian Tea. 
Betty had a dry sense of humor. When the subject of farming came up, she would often quip that she lived her entire life “in town” and never learned anything about farming, even though she rarely left Iowa for 95 years. Betty was a very elegant, independent, opinionated and strong woman and she will be greatly missed. 
Betty is survived by Tony and Joan Kunz and their family: Troy Kunz: Alaina and Malia, Nate and Morgan Kunz: Alyssa and Brandon, Bryan and Larissa Kunz: Declan, Esme and Cedric; Timothy and Becky Kunz and their family: Melissa Kunz and Andrew Kunz; Ann Gray and her family: Alex and Dorothy Gray: Gus, Caroline Gray; and many nieces and nephews.  
She is preceded in death by her parents Arthur and Mae, her husband LeRoy, and siblings Lloyd, Myrle, Helen and Eileen. 
The family would like to thank the wonderful nurses, assistants and hospice staff at PARC Hall who made Betty’s transition peaceful. We appreciate Pastor Peter Morlock for his frequent visits and the spiritual comfort he gave Betty.
Arrangements by Martin-Mattice Funeral Home.
Condolences can be left at
www.martinmattice
funeralhome.com