Elizabeth "Betty" J. Lawless

Elizabeth “Betty” J. Lawless, 80, of Wamego, KS, passed away Friday, July 1, 2011 at Good Shepherd Hospice House of Manhattan. Betty was born September 27, 1930 in Plattsburg, MO, the daughter of Dennis and Mary Ellen (Golden) O’Connor. She graduated from Lexington High School in Lexington, NE in 1948 and graduated from Creighton University in 1953 with a BS degree in Nursing. She later obtained her RN designation and worked as the Director of Nursing at Lexington Community Hospital until her marriage. She married John R. Lawless in Lexington on August 29, 1959. He preceded her in death on September 2, 2003. Betty continued working in nursing until moving to Wamego in 1995. She was a member of St. Bernard’s Catholic Church of Wamego, St. Bernard’s Women’s Guild, volunteered much of her time for the Wamego Hospital Foundation and delivering Meals On Wheels, enjoyed playing golf, playing cards, attending the kids ballgames, and especially loved her time with the grandchildren. Survivors include her daughter, Suzanne Hemphill (Troy), of Wamego, KS; two sons, Tom Lawless (Mary), of Phoenix, AZ, and Jack Lawless (Sandy), of Aurora, NE; one brother, Dennis O’Connor, Jr., of Lexington, NE; one sister, Kathleen Seberger, Lexington, NE; and nine grandchildren, Adam, Eric, Cole, and Brady Hemphill, John and Olivia Lawless, and Scott, Brett, and Elizabeth Lawless. She was also preceded in death by her sister, Mary Julia Hoffmann and her grandson, Aaron Hemphill. Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, July 7, 2011 at St. Bernard’s Catholic Church of Wamego. Private burial will be in the church cemetery. A Rosary will be recited at 7:00 p.m. Wednesday at the Stewart Funeral Home of Wamego with a visitation until 8:30 p.m. Memorials are suggested to the Good Shepherd Hospice House and may be left in care of the Stewart Funeral Home, PO Box 48, 66547.