Ryan worked in the mill at Appleton Coated Paper Company.  In a freak accident one day straightening a wrinkle in newly poured paper that was drying, he lost his right arm up to his elbow in the machine.  Ryan was 45 at the time and the year was 1929 ... the start of the great Depression.  Betty was 4.  While recuperating Ryan had to learn to do everything left handed.  Companies back then were hard pressed to give any compensation, but Ryan was given $1000 and a pink slip for all his pain and suffering.  The Hooymans took some of that money and tried to start a movie theater downtown, renting and renovating a building with a picture screen and seats.  The theater was listed in the "city directory" (1930s version of the Yellow Pages), but at only a nickel a ticket with most people out of work, profits were slim and the business soon failed.  Bertha began working at a bakery, Ryan became a salesman, and the girls would gather cherries, plums, and pears from the neighborhood fruit trees into a wagon during the summers and sell them in town to make enough money to survive.  Ryan would cultivate a large garden in their backyard one-handed with tender loving care and grow enough vegetables to last them through the harsh Wisconsin winters.  Bertha would bring home leftover bread from the bakery.  Betty and her sisters would live in six different rented houses throughout their childhood but she remembers the house at 119 S. Locust Street (the one with the big backyard) the most.  Despite the obvious hardships Betty spent her early childhood enjoying life and having fun with her older sisters.  

Betty attended kindergarten for 2 years (ages 4 and 5), followed by elementary school at Jefferson School in Appleton, and Wilson Jr. High for grades 7 thru 9.  Betty loved book learning and thrived in high school always in the upper portion of her classes.  She loved English, shorthand, and typing classes.   In her junior high school year she was elected to attend "Badger Girls State" ... a week in Madison with other girls from all around the state of Wisconsin to learn about how state government worked.  This was considered quite an honor and of the 200 girls attending she was elected to be the State Treasurer, spending a day in the State Treasurer's office in Madison (the state capitol).  This program was sponsored by the American Legion and is to this day still being held yearly with an identical program for high school boys "Badger Boys State".

Life at home found Betty's sisters one by one entering the working world with Mil leading the way taking a job as a secretary for the District Attorney's office.  Monie and Florence hired in at Zwicker's Knitting Mill, and Ginny would take a job working at Home Mutual Insurance.  All of them would meet their future husbands at their respective jobs and move out of the house one after another.

In 1943 Betty graduated from Appleton High School 11th in a class of 411.  A month prior to graduation, a very large local manufacturing company asked to interview the top 3 students from Appleton High's commercial courses and Betty was lucky enough to be one of three girls chosen.  Shorthand and typing were considered "commercial courses", subjects that would be especially useful for anyone seeking employment in offices of usually large corporations.  This led to her first part-time job at the Kimberly-Clark Corporation during the month of May until graduation in June.  Betty hired in full time after that and spent the next 6 years working as a secretary in many different departments, loving every minute of it.  Betty enjoyed meeting new people and was always interested in how big corporations actually functioned in order to make profits.  

Shortly after Betty graduated from high school, her father suffered a fatal heart attack.  He was 65 at the time leaving Betty, Ginny, and Bertha still living in their big house that had seen the family of 7 survive and thrive for many years.  When Ginny married, Alby moved in with Bertha, Betty, and Ginny until they had enough saved to buy their own house a few years later.  Betty, Ginny and Alby gave Bertha $10/week for room and board to help her make ends meet.

By the time Betty was 4 she had developed a vision problem having what she described as wandering or lazy eyes.  She was outfitted with glasses at that tender age to help correct that condition.  She lived with that condition until when at age 19, carefully saving $500 after her first year of working at Kimberly Clark, she finally had enough money to have surgery to fix her problem.  The surgery went well with the doctor shortening the muscles in both eyes, and getting 10 stitches in each to close the sutures.  For 10 days she wore eye patches over both eyes and her friends stopped by each day to take her for walks and keep her company.

America's participation in World War II started in 1941 with the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor.  By the time Betty graduated from high school all the young men were enlisted in the armed services and there were very few left in the city.  Compensating for that, Betty had many close girlfriends who went everywhere together ... movies, shopping, playing tennis, bike riding, hiking and occasionally swimming.  The six of them (Betty, Elfie Klouteman, Betty Richter, Mary Kettenhofen, Patty Schaefer, and Ginny Kamps) really had some fun times together.  Betty had to commute to work via the bus ... 10 miles each way.  During WWII very few young people had the luxury of driving a car.

Betty met Chuck Steffens while out on a double date, as fate would have it, the day before he left to begin a two year college program in Milwaukee at the Business Institute.  Chuck had just been discharged after serving four years in the Army.  Betty dated him occasionally when he came back to Appleton every few weeks on  weekends and they started corresponding daily for the next two years.  Out on an evening date on Valentines Day in 1947, Chuck reached in his pocket, pulled out an engagement ring, and silently slipped it on Betty's finger.  No words needed to be said.  On August 27, 1949 they were married in a lovely church ceremony at St. Mary's Church in Appleton.  They spent their early September  "honeymoon" at a lakeside cottage in northern Wisconsin and then both returned to their jobs.  By then Chuck was employed at Western Condensing, a local firm, as an accountant.  Betty still worked at Kimberly-Clark.  Later that year Chuck and Betty took one more week of vacation and drove to Niagara Falls - a very traditional honeymoon place in the early 1940-50's.  There they stayed with Betty Richter and her new husband Dick Vosbury in Detroit, and Ruth and Mac McMyler long time friends that were transferred from Neenah by Kimberly-Clark to Niagara, Wisconsin.  Click here for more engagement, wedding, reception, and honeymoon pictures.

The following year when they were expecting their first child, Betty had to quit her job, as women were not allowed to work in an office after 7 months of pregnancy.  In the fall of 1950 Betty and Chuck moved from their first apartment in Menasha to their first house which they purchased in Appleton an older 30 year old house which was a real fixer-upper.  Fix it up they did for the next 2 years.  Together they remodeled every inch of this two story house which featured an open staircase near the front entrance.  Chuck meticulously resurfaced all cupboards in the kitchen, refinished all the hardwood floors throughout the house, painted every room, and built many more features into the house interior.
 
Betty and Chuck's first child (Bruce) was born on October 6, 1950 and Chuck decided it was time to sell this house and build one in a new section of Appleton.  Chuck did all the subcontracting of the house and in 3 months time they moved into a ranch style house with three bedrooms, one bath, and a full basement.  Chuck built a 2½ car garage by himself and made the ½ section into a porch surrounded by windows on all three walls.  Chuck went to night school woodworking class to learn to build these windows ... all this work being done on weekends.  During this time, their second son (David) was born on June 29, 1952.  All their neighbors were as young as they were, most with children, and they had great neighborhood gatherings with the neighbor children having fun all playing together.

In the fall of 1956, Chuck was hired by Kimberly-Clark Corporation for their accounting department, and after a short training session was transferred to Memphis, Tennessee.  They sold their first "new" house, bought a new Chevy Station Wagon, left Appleton behind, and away they went to start a bigger and brighter future with Kimberly-Clark there.  Kimberly-Clark handled selling the house and the move of all their household belongings.  Bruce had finished kindergarten and was ready for first grade.  For the first 5 months in Memphis they lived in a small rented house, eventually buying a 3 bedroom home on Walter Street, where they would live for the next 10 years.  Alan arrived a one warm evening on July 8, 1957.  In Memphis, the Steffens family became very active church members at nearby St. James Catholic Parish.  Chuck also led the Cub and Boy Scout program for the next 5 years, teaching many young boys comradery, a sense of community, and a better way of life.

In the spring of 1965, Betty and Chuck decided to have a house built in a newer area of Memphis, a suburb named Raleigh.  The boys grew up there, with Bruce and David attending high school at Catholic High School, and Alan attending grade school at St. Anne's.  Betty returned to work as a secretary for the Dean of Men at Southwestern College in Memphis to help tuck money away for the boys' college years.  They lived in Raleigh for 3 years, enjoying life in the suburbs, making new friends and adapting to their new surroundings.  Bruce was in his freshman year at Southwestern, Dave was a junior year at Catholic High School and Alan in sixth grade at St Anne's, when everyone's lives would take another turn with Chuck accepting a job transfer to Dayton, Ohio.  Chuck would now be managing the data processing department for the Karolton Envelope Division of Kimberly-Clark in West Carrollton, a suburb of Dayton.

In March of 1972, off went Chuck to Dayton, leaving the Betty and the kids to oversee the selling of their new home and prepare for moving the family to Ohio.  When Bruce finished his freshman year at Southwestern, he joined Chuck in Dayton and together they went house hunting on weekends.  Kimberly-Clark hired Bruce for the summer.  In August, Betty, Dave, and Alan drove to Dayton and joined them when they bought a large split level house.  The house had four bedrooms, three baths, living room, dining room, kitchen and large family room with a 2 1/2 car garage.  In Dayton, Bruce graduated from the University of Dayton, Dave finished his senior year at Alter High School and entered the University of Dayton later transferring to Wright State University.  Alan finished Alter High School and entered Wright State University.  In the meantime, Bruce and Cathy were married in 1971, and Dave and Nan were married in 1973.  Bruce joined the Coast Guard after college graduation and he and Cathy were off to see the world starting off in Cape May, New Jersey.  Dave and Nan remained in Dayton, where Dave eventually started a banking software company (Data Systems Consultants) with two other college friends.

While in Dayton, Betty worked for Manpower a temporary employment agency, working various "Kelly Girl" type jobs until she was hired by NCR.  She remained there for about six years.  In 1977, Chuck accepted another job transfer, this time back to Neenah (the headquarters of Kimberly-Clark).  Chuck and Betty left Alan behind in Dayton to finish his college years.  When they arrived back in Wisconsin, Betty was hired in Neenah as a secretary in 1977, and she and Chuck carpooled to/from work together for the next 9 years.  They rented a duplex on the north side of Appleton, and a year later bought it.  They rented one side of their duplex to many interesting couples over the next 20+ years, with the duplex rental eventually paying for the entire duplex.

Betty enjoyed social clubs and always valued her friendships, many of which she maintained from her grade school years through to today.  Betty started playing bridge with her friends after high school and continued meeting with them often until moving to Memphis in the mid-1950s.  When moving back to Appleton in 1977, she joined back in the bridge group activities and she still plays weekly.  While still working at KC, Betty and Chuck began volunteering their Saturday mornings to St. Joseph's Pantry.  Betty did clerical work there while Chuck picked up and delivered food to the needy.  They continued doing this for 10 years, through retirement.

In the summer of 1983, Betty made plans with her friend Mary Kettenhofen to take a 2 week tour of 8 countries in Europe with 30 other people from around the US.  Betty had known Mary since grade school and they booked this great European adventure through a local travel agency affiliated with Olson-Travelworld, a London-based agency.  Their journey began a on a Royal Dutch Airlines flight to Amsterdam and from there they toured the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxumbourg, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and France.  Betty started a travel journal during this trip and documented the entire adventure with some very interesting side-notes in her Olson's 14-Day "Eight Country Legend" Tour write-up and photo album.  We've taken that and linked a condensed version of that in her biography here.

Chuck retired from Kimberly-Clark in January, 1986 and Betty worked another 6 months retiring in June, 1986.  That fall, they decided to travel to Florida to see what that state had to offer during the winter months.  The first year they visited Ginny and Alby Bevers (Betty's sister) at their Six Lakes Mobile Park complex and the Bevers showed them around Ft. Myers and the nearby areas.  Chuck and Betty found a rental condo unit on a canal in the small city of Punta Gorda, located just 30 miles north of Ft. Myers.  Betty and Chuck settled into the retirement lifestyle, golfing, taking up several hobbies (wooden perpetual calendar making, caning chairs), annual visits to their children scattered across the US, and many social activities with their friends in Wisconsin and Florida.  For the next few years they began making the annual commute from Wisconsin to Florida in December, returning to Appleton in May each year.  In 1991 they stayed at a condo in the Gateway Point complex situated along a canal in Punta Gorda near Fisherman's Wharf.  They rented there again the next few years.  They liked the area so much, they bought a condo there in 1993 a few months after returning to Appleton that year, ending their annual hunt for a condo to rent for the winter months.  While in Punta Gorda each year, Betty began a ritual of taking 4 mile walks every morning for exercise and enjoyed the time spent with her walking buddy Liz Gordon.

In May 1993, while visiting Bruce and Cathy on their way home to Wisconsin that year, Chuck suffered a severe stroke overnight.  After a week in the Orlando hospital with Chuck recovering, they then flew home to Appleton.  They left their "packed" car in Orlando with Bruce.  A few weeks later Bruce drove the car to Dayton and flew back to Orlando.  Dave drove the car from Dayton to Appleton, flying home shortly afterwards.  Chuck spent many weeks in physical therapy hoping to regain the balance and eyesight he had lost due to the stroke.  Progress and recovery were slow but he kept on trying to overcome his new handicaps.   Betty drove the 1,700 miles from Appleton to Punta Gorda for the next three years.  In 1996 they started making their annual commute flying to Ft. Myers and later back to Appleton, leaving a car in both Appleton and Punta Gorda and they continued that "snowbird"  each year until 2002.

In spring of 2002 Chuck suffered another severe stroke and passed away quietly a few days later on March 27, 2002 with Betty, Bruce, his wife Cathy, Dave, and Alan by his side.  He was buried in Appleton with the entire family of three sons, their families, and the remaining Steffens and Hooymans all paying their respects.  After the funeral a big "Celebration of Life" dinner was held at the Columbus Club in Appleton, and it turned out to be a large family reunion for all Chuck and Betty's brothers and sisters, nieces, nephews, cousins and friends from both sides of the family.

Betty continued to live alone in Appleton during the summer months and in Punta Gorda from November through May every year.  She enjoyed her time with all the family (brothers and sisters-in-law, sisters, nieces and nephews) while "home" each year.  Betty flew to and from both locations, occasionally accompanied by an extended family member to keep her company ... she enjoyed entertaining them and her other friends visiting Florida while down in Punta Gorda.  Betty left a car in both locations for convenience and while avoiding the harsh Wisconsin winters, she enjoyed the warm sunny Florida climate.

On Friday, August 13, 2004, Hurricane Charley began its landward path of destruction in Punta Gorda, Florida hitting it full force with winds of 145 mph.  Betty's Gateway Point condo was in the direct path of Charley, ripping the roof off most of the condos in the complex and completely destroying the interior of Betty's lovely winter residence.  Betty's car  parked in the carport at the time was also totaled after being battered by swirling roof tiles which smashed out her rear window, and then  deluged the interior with the horizontal winds and rain.  Dave would coordinate and manage all the contractors and the massive project to rebuild her condo over the next year.

In late June 2004, Betty had her left knee replaced at Kennedy Hip and Knee Center in Oshkosh.  She spent the majority of the summer recovering full use of that knee.  On November 1, 2004, she had the right knee replaced at Mercy Medical Center in Oshkosh and suffered a stroke sometime after the surgery, and that was discovered when she didn't wake up as expected in Post-Op.  Niece Betty Mueller called Alan from the hospital with Betty's status.  Alan in turn called Bruce and Dave, and then he flew out to Appleton that night.  Betty finally came to, and after many tests it was determined that the left-side stroke affected the language/speech center of her brain leaving her to deal with severe aphasia as well as her knee recovery.  She spent a week in Intensive Care, followed by 3 more weeks in the rehab center on the 5th floor there.  With her nieces,  brothers-in-laws, and all 3 sons flying in on regular intervals to spent time with her during her recovery period.  Betty's recovery was slow, but she made steady process.  From Mercy Medical Center, she was transferred to the Rennes Health Center in Appleton around Thanksgiving where she received daily speech, occupational and physical therapy. 

After about 4 months in Rennes, Betty graduated to the Renaissance Assisted Living Center across the street.  Alan made arrangements to have furniture moved from her house to her assisted living apartment there.  The Renaissance was a very nice place compared to Rennes. and while in there she met Denton Engstrom, a very nice man renting a house within walking distance of the Renaissance.  He had recently lost his wife to cancer after a very long stay at the Renaissance, and he still had meals and would attend the group events there from time to time.  Betty continued to recover enough of her speech back to leave the Renaissance and move back home.  In the meantime Betty and Denton's relationship progressed, they were engaged and then were married in Appleton on May 13, 2006.

The new happy couple lived together in Betty's Appleton duplex and for 7 years made the annual commute to Punta Gorda in November.  They sold the Punta Gorda condo in 2014 and then resided solely in Appleton.  Bruce and Dave, Betty's brother-in-law Ken Steffens, and Denton's son Bob assisted them with home projects when needed both in Florida and Appleton over the years.  Denton's son Bob still lives in Appleton with his family.  Betty stayed active still with her bridge club, and she and Denton enjoyed playing pool and cribbage together and visiting family.  Ken passed away in 2010 and all his help and friendship was sorely missed.

In the early afternoon on Tuesday October 14, 2014, Betty suffered a massive heart attack and was transferred to Appleton Medical Center.  She passed away around 6pm peacefully with Denton holding her hand there with her sons Bruce and his wife, Cathy, David, and Alan flying from Orlando and Seattle to Appleton at the time.  Betty had 8 very happy years together with Denton, and Betty’s family was very blessed that he entered and became such an integral part of her life.  She was a very sweet and caring person, fun-loving and quick to smile.  She will be sorely missed by everyone whose lives she touched in her 89 years with us.