Betty Malzahn

(From Parker Mortuary)

Elizabeth Mae “Betty” Malzahn, age 92, of Joplin, passed away on Friday, December 2, 2022 with family at her side.

Betty was born on May 27, 1930 in Jordan, Minnesota to the late Mrs. Helen (Siems) Barrett. She attended St. John’s Lutheran School for eight years. She was the only student in the school’s history who was never late or absent from class. She was a 1947 graduate of Chaska High School and a graduate of the Minnesota School of Business. A few months after graduating from business school, she was promoted to the position of private secretary to a senior manager at Pillsbury Milling Company.

In 1953, she married Ray Malzahn, who survives. After the birth of their first child, Betty became a full-time wife and mother. She typed Ray’s university thesis, which included floating letters where the organic chemistry symbols were later drawn in, on a non-electric typewriter. The original and all four carbon copies were typed perfectly. She put the gold medal she had won for her homemaking skills in high school to good use, providing for her family and entertaining others. She served five different Missouri Synod Lutheran Churches in loving and practical ways.

In addition to her husband of 69 years, Ray Malzahn of Joplin, Betty is survived by her two children, Karen Malzahn of Joplin, and Janet Malzahn and her husband Scott Baxter of Austin, Texas. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her sister, Madaline Wellington in 2016.

A visitation will be held on Friday, December 9, 2022 from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Parker Mortuary, 1502 S. Joplin Ave., Joplin, MO 64804.

Funeral service will be held on Monday, December 12, 2022 at 7:00 p.m. at Immanuel Lutheran Church, 2616 Connecticut Ave., Joplin, MO 64804

Interment will be later at Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Chaska, Minnesota.

The family requests that in lieu of flowers, memorial contributions be made to the Martin Luther School, 2616 Connecticut Ave., Joplin, MO 64804.