When someone lives to be over 100 years old there is a lot to talk about!

Elizabeth (Betty) Stabenow passed away peacefully on Tuesday November 22, 2022 at her apartment - The Classic at Hillcrest Green where she had waitressed when it was a golf course/country club. It was there that she met William (Bill) Stabenow who was the caddy master. They married on June 18, 1949. Betty lost Bill, the love of her life, in 1982 and she has been alone since. They raised two daughters, Cyndi and Barb. Betty taught school at Altoona High School for 36 years. She taught classes in high school English and had three generations of some of her students over the years. Volunteer careers were the 2nd part of her life; at the information desk of Sacred Heart Hospital (20 years), with PEO (a sorority concerned with supporting education of women), also serving on the board of elections in Eau Claire and she was an active member of the choir and women's club at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church. She welcomed grandchildren Lindsay Kay and Joel and always enjoyed the visits of great grandchildren Parker, James, and baby Isabel. She started her young life riding to a one room schoolhouse in a horse drawn wagon, lined with bricks for warmth in the winter. She taught in a one room schoolhouse after receiving her degree from UW Eau Claire Teachers College. Leaving her Eau Claire home on Fillmore, after 50 years living there, at the age of 95, she moved to the Classic at Hillcrest Green. She combined her enjoyment of playing 500, Bridge and board games with her new friends until macular degeneration limited her vision and her hearing diminished.

Besides her new friends at the Classic, she also enjoyed weekly visits from some of her retired teacher friends- Marie Kunsman, Cindy McClusky and Carla Peterson. These three made her life fun and enjoyable keeping up with news from the "outside". Their friendship and love for Betty was evident in the time they spent with her weekly. The staff at the Classic became her trusted crew, helping her with everyday things as needed. During this last year, as a 100-year-old who had some hospitalizations, COVID, the flu and shingles, she received exemplary care from the entire staff. Betty is survived by her two daughters Cyndi (husband Frank Boone) and Barb (Gary) Armstrong, grandchildren, Lindsay and Joel and great grandchildren Parker, James and Isabel. She is preceded in death by her parents, brother Patrick and husband Bill. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11am on Friday, December 2, 2022, at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Eau Claire. Visitation will be held one hour prior to mass at the church. (The funeral service will be live streamed on Friday, December 2 at: (www.ic-ec.us). Burial will be at Calvary Cemetery, for family only. Memorials may be given to Immaculate Conception Church or to the estate of Elizabeth Stabenow, which will be given to Altoona High School for the Betty Stabenow Scholarship Fund. Lenmark-Gomsrud-Linn Funeral Home is assisting the family. Online condolences may be shared at www.lenmarkfh.com.