Betty Katherine (Oswald) Elder, 91, formerly of Fairfax, Missouri, passed away Saturday, May 19, 2018, at Tiffany Heights Care Center in Mound City, Missouri.
Betty was born November 27, 1926, in Rock Port, Missouri, the daughter of John and Amanda (Henderson) Oswald.
She attended Irish Grove School and graduated from Rock Port, Missouri, High School in 1944.
Betty was united in marriage to James Smith in 1945. They made their home in Fairfax where they raised four sons, Reed, Michael, Kevin, and Jay on the farm. They later divorced.
She married Carl Elder and they lived in Mound City until his death, when she moved back to Fairfax.
Betty was a member of the Fairfax United Methodist Church. She stayed very active in the community and was employed at Community Hospital and Fairfax R-3 School where she worked as a dietitian and cook. She enjoyed attending her children’s and grandchildren’s activities and sports events and later got to enjoy her great-grandchildren’s events.
Preceding her in death were her parents, John and Amanda Oswald; husband, Carl Elder; her son, Michael; sisters, Jenita McNeal, Jennie Howell, Nancy VanGundy and infant Margery Oswald; and brothers, Lewis, John, James, Maurice, Donald, and Robert Oswald.
Her survivors include: son, Reed (Paula) Smith, Fairfax, grandchildren: Daniel (Ginny) Smith, and Jacob (fiancée, Kristy) Smith, Fairfax, and great-grandchildren: Oliver, Charlie, Mack, Henry, Scout, Kiera, and Dexter; son, Kevin (Denise) Smith, Shelby, N.C., grandchildren: Ashley (Gary) Frady, Gastonia, N.C., Lindsey Smith, Charlotte, N.C., David (Holly), Des Moines, Iowa, and Nathan (Ashley) Smith, Lake Charles, Louisiana, and great-grandchildren: Payton Frady, Gavin, Cole, Peyton, and Katherine Smith; and son, Jay (Stephanie) Smith, Fairfax, grandchildren: Marisa (Chris) Hedlund, Fairfax, Matthew (Emily) Smith, Columbia MO, and Megan (Chris) Torres, St. Louis, MO, and great-grandchildren: Ian, Natalie, and Collin Hedlund, Asa Smith, and Amelia, Eliza and Jase Torres.
Funeral services will be held at 2:00 p.m., Wednesday, May 23, 2018, at the First United Methodist Church, Fairfax, where the family will receive friends from 1-2 p.m. prior to the service.  Private interment services will be in the English Grove Cemetery, Fairfax.
Memorials may be made to English Grove Cemetery, Fairfax. Arrangements are under the direction of Schooler Funeral Home, Fairfax.