Bettie and Clay

Clay and Bettie lived kitty-corner from us and every spring Clay would mix up a batch of blue cement paint and invite us over to help him paint the inside of his pool. Bettie would make bologna sandwiches and a few PB&J for Chris who was vegetarian and we’d have lunch afterwards. For the rest of the summer the pool would be open to us to use in thanks for helping. They were always good neighbors even when the rooster moved into their front hedge. Apparently a farmer had lent out an ornery rooster to another neighbor to keep a stray dog out of the front yard and the rooster decided he liked Clay and Bettie’s hedge better then his intended living quarters a few blocks away. Clay fed him corn for days until the police chief came down and chased him around the block and took him back to the farm he came from.

After they moved across town they always came to our front yard for the Memorial Day Parade and we came to reserve a table for them. We’d move our best lawn furniture to the front yard and I’d make a little sign for the top that read “Reserved for the Henneman’s” This tickled Bettie to no end and each year she’d look forward to those margaritas on my front lawn during the parade, where they'd be treated like the A-list celebrities of the party. The week after she’d thank me with a premium bottle of Tequila, I never had the heart to tell her we have 4 whole bottles of unopened Tequila in our bar. But I don’t think it wouldn’t have mattered, she’d have given them anyway, and that was Bettie. Always sending down pies, jelly or bottles of Tequila, she was a good neighbor even after they moved.





















BETTIMARIE HENNEMAN, 85 MERRILL GARDENS, Calif. - Bettimarie Henneman, 85, Merrill Gardens, Calif., formerly of Pecatonica, died at 6:24 p.m., Friday, Nov. 3, 2006, in San Ramon Medical Center, San Ramon, Calif. Born July 24, 1921 in Alma, Neb., the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Fay D. and Blanche (Jackson) Fuller. Lived 50-plus years in Pecatonica coming from Moorhead, Minn., before moving to California. Married Clarence Henneman in Bartlesville, Okla. on June 5, 1943. Bettie was employed as a secretary by K.C. Soil Service. Member of Pecatonica United Methodist Church, United Methodist Women's Group, PTA, active in Cub Scouts, Girl Scouts leader and neighborhood chairman, Methodist choir, vocalist and accompanist. Before moving to Pecatonica, she was a member of Fargo-Moorhead Women's Chorus, performing Handel's Messiah. Graduated from Dearborn High, Dearborn, Minn. Survivors include son, Craig (Carlotta) Henneman, Hayward, Calif.; daughter, Shelia Henneman, Anthem, Ariz.; son, Ladd (Carol) Henneman, Danville, Calif.; grandson, Christopher (Amanda) Harriosn, Pecatonica; granddaughters, Michelle and Nicole Henneman, Danville, Calif.; and Madison of Pecatonica. She was preceded in death by her parents, husband, daughter, Sherry Harrison; and brother, Frank Fuller. A memorial service will be held 11 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 18, in McCorkle Funeral Home, 203 West Fifth St., Pecatonica. Burial in Twelve Mile Grove Cemetery. Memorials may be given to the Pecatonica Rotary Club, P.O. Box 151, Pecatonica, IL 61063.