Elizabeth Rosalie Kennamer

Elizabeth Rosalie "Betty Rose" Kennamer, born on October 9, 1921, to Ira B. Henthorn and Rhoda A. Henthorn in Hillyard, Washington (a suburb of Spokane), left this earthly life and went to her eternal home with the Lord on Saturday, May 14, 2016. Betty moved to Abilene from Kansas City, KS to attend Abilene Christian College in 1939. She met and married David L. Kennamer on August 28, 1941. She graduated summa cum laude from ACC in 1942 and received a masters degree in music from Hardin-Simmons in 1955. She began a teaching career in 1954. She taught 6th grade for 4 years at Bowie Elementary and transferred to Johnston Elementary where she taught 1st and 2nd grade from 1958 until she and David both retired from the Abilene Public School system in 1978. Rather than retire, however, they moved to Kenya where David became a missionary and Betty established a school and taught missionary children in Sotik, Kenya. She taught there for six years. Betty and her family were charter members of Woodlawn church of Christ, where she taught ladies' classes, 2nd grade Sunday School classes and was an active quilter with ladies' Woodlawn Quilters. She loved to paint (having taken art classes while in Kenya) and also loved to play the piano and sing with David. She was preceded in death by her husband, David L. Kennamer, on February 13, 2001; her parents; and two brothers, Edward Henthorn and Leon Henthorn. She is survived by two sons, John D. Kennamer and his wife, Karen, of Clio, MI and Larry J. (Jim) Kennamer and his wife, Wanda, of Hilliard, FL; a daughter, Karla J. Bond and her husband, Dennis, of St. Peters, MO; seven grandchildren, Andrea Scott-Tolchard and her husband, Matthew, of Goldsboro, NC; David B. Kennamer and his wife, Tina of Clio, MI; Wendi Nelson and her husband, Steve, of Lake Mary, FL; James Kennamer and his wife, Angela, of Jacksonville, FL; Holly Bond of Chicago, IL; Ryan Bond and his wife, Katherine, of Wichita, KS; and Blake Bond and his wife, Kristi, of Sunnyside, WA; nine great-grandchildren; a beloved caregiver, Dorothy Kemp of Abilene, TX; and a myriad of friends and loved ones of the Lord's church. The family will receive friends at a visitation from 9:30 to 11 a.m. Wednesday, May 18, prior to the funeral service at The Hamil Family Funeral Home, 6449 Buffalo Gap Road. Funeral services will be held Wednesday, May 18, at 11 a.m. at The Hamil Family `Funeral Home, 6449 Buffalo Gap Road, with Sonny Guild officiating. Burial will follow in Elmwood Memorial Park. Honorary pallbearers will be her grandsons, David Kennamer, James Kennamer, Ryan Bond and Blake Bond. Memorials may be made to the Missions Department of Abilene Christian University, ACU - P.O. Box 29411, Abilene, TX 79699, or to Hendrick Hospice Care, 1682 Hickory Street, Abilene, TX 79601.