Betty J. Donnelly (Lebanon)'s Obituary
Betty Jane Donnelly, 88, Lebanon, passed away June 14, 2015, at Quail Creek Skilled Nursing Facility in Springfield, Missouri. She was born July 4, 1926, in St. Louis, Missouri, to Grant and Pearl Frohoff Parmenter. She graduated from Normandy High School with the class of 1944, and then attended Miss Hickey’s Secretarial School and after graduation worked for an advertising firm in St. Louis.
When her father retired in 1948, she moved with the family to Ira, Missouri and began working as a legal secretary in the law office of T. Victor Jefferies, and later was employed in the law office of Donnelly and Donnelly as a legal secretary.
In 1955, she married David Donnelly, a Lebanon lawyer, and they had sixty wonderful years together. In 1958, their daughter Polly Ann was born. Polly and her husband, Keith Strickland, have two daughters, Erin Donnelly and Allie Rose, both attending William Woods University in Fulton, Missouri, all of whom survive. Also surviving are a niece, Sandra Lewis, of Tampa, Florida, and her two children, Dianna Grupposo, also of Tampa, and Gary Miller, of Palatine, Illinois.
Betty was a lifetime Episcopalian and active in Trinity Episcopal Church in Lebanon, having served on the Vestry, as treasure and Bishop’s Warden.
She was a member of the old Round Table Club, a bowling team and several bridge clubs. Betty enjoyed dancing, tennis, card playing, swimming, horse racing, travel and the Florida Keys where she made many friends. She particularly enjoyed her longtime tradition of inviting a large group of friends and neighbors to her home for raising the flag, singing and refreshment on her birthday, Independence Day, each year.
She was predeceased by her parents; and two older sisters, Faye (Lawrence) Hartman, and Vi (William) Vance.
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