Betty Jane Goen was born November 17, 1940 in Woodward, Oklahoma, to Ted D. and Esther Meier (née Feil).
Betty was baptized in May 1941 at Evangelica Lutheran Church on Tangier Road. Betty was confirmed in May 1953 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Woodward, Oklahoma.
A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m., Monday, September 30, 2024 at the Trinity Lutheran Church in Woodward with Pastor McClellan officiating. Arrangements are under the direction of Billings Funeral Home.
Betty was reared on the family farm on Tangier Road. She went to school at Tangier through her sophomore year. She then finished at Fargo High School, graduating in May 1959. Betty received a certificate in executive secretarial training from Wichita Business College in May 1960. She received a certificate in computer programming from OSU School of Technology Training in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, in May 1969, graduating third out of 303 total graduates. She was voted Mrs. Electronic Data Processing Queen in December 1968 and was in the Christmas parade in Okmulgee.
On July 10, 1965, Betty married Stanford Norman Goen, Jr. at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Oklahoma City. To this union were born two children, a daughter, Cheryl Yvette, and a son, Michael Paul. They were divorced in 1976. Norman died on August 12, 2003, leaving a step-daughter, Katherine Denise, and a daughter, Traci LeAnn, in addition to Cheryl and Michael.
Betty worked as a secretary for many years. When they moved to Floydada, Texas, in 1972, she worked as a tax accountant for 34 years before retiring in 2006 and moving back to the family farm, where she raised cows.
As a young teenager, Betty taught herself to play the piano and was an organist for 40 years at Trinity Lutheran (Woodward), Immanuel Lutheran (Oklahoma City), Trinity Lutheran (Gallup, New Mexico) and St. Paul Lutheran (Plainview, Texas). She loved gardening and supplied floral arrangements for the altar at the church in Plainview and Woodward.
Betty’s favorite needlework was crochet, and several of her original pattern designs were printed in crochet magazines. She was also an avid reader. Betty learned to make tied quilts at St. Paul Lutheran Church. She helped make thousands of quilts to give away locally or throughout the world by Lutheran World Relief and Orphan Grain Train.
She was preceded in death by her parents. Betty is survived by her daughter, Cheryl Lyon, and husband, Philip, of Owasso, Oklahoma; son, Michael Goen and wife, Dena, of Lubbock, Texas; six grandchildren, Eric Lyon, Zachary Lyon, Jessica Lyon, Tyler Goen, Abbie Goen and Emma Goen; two great-grandchildren, Aubri Lyon and Henry Lyon; sister, Sharon Meier of Woodward and brother, Larry Meier and wife, Gwen, of Woodward.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Trinity Lutheran Church or Gnadenfeld Cemetery with the funeral home accepting the memorials.
Remembrances may be shared online at www.billingsfuneralhomewoodward. com