Betty Keenan

Betty M. Keenan, age 96 of Sauk Centre, passed away peacefully, surrounded by her family on  Monday, February 7, 2022 at the Quiet Oaks Hospice House in St. Augusta, Minnesota.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday, February 23 at Saint Paul’s Catholic Church in Sauk Centre with Rev. Jeremy Theis officiating. Interment will be in Calvary Cemetery in Sauk Centre.

Visitation will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Patton-Schad Funeral Home in Sauk Centre and from 10 to 11 a.m. Wednesday at the church. Parish prayers will be held at 4 p.m. Tuesday evening at the funeral home.

Betty Mae Alpers was born August 20, 1925 in Bear Lake Township, Michigan to Paul and Irma (Greve) Alpers. She was united in marriage to Charles “Chuck” Keenan on June 19, 1947 at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Portal, North Dakota. Betty and her husband owned and operated numerous small businesses including the Flaxton Hotel in North Dakota and Lakeside Resort in Sauk Centre. She had an adventurous spirit who loved traveling the United States and internationally with her husband. Betty’s faith, family, and service to her community were the most important aspects of her life.

Survivors include her children, Barb (Steve) Avery of Sartell, Terry (Mary Kay)Keenan of Willmar, Mary (Joe) Miller of Chicago, Illinois, Margy (Jim) Umhoefer of Sauk Centre, and Tom (Martha) Keenan of Chaska; 17 grandchildren and 24 great-grandchildren; and daughter-in-law, Phyllis Chu of San Francisco, California.

Betty was preceded in death by her husband, Chuck Keenan; parents; son, Jim Keenan; brothers and sisters, Paul, Ray, Helen, Lois, and JoAnn.

In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to Holy Family School in Sauk Centre, Quiet Oaks Hospice in St. Augusta, or to donor’s choice.