Betty Kathleen McCann-Thomas, daughter of Roy and Rachel (Grist) Kramer was born in Ozawkie, Kansas, on August 20, 1922, and passed away peacefully on December 14, 2016, at Chariton Nursing and Rehab Center, Chariton, Iowa, at the age of 94 years.

      Betty was raised in Ozawkie, Kansas, on the family farm and grew up during the Depression. She was the apple of her daddy’s eye and had a special cot in his office when visiting him at the Kaw Packing Plant in Topeka where he was Vice President. Tragedy struck, and her father was killed when she was seven, and she was raised by her mother with her brother Billy and foster brother Alf. She graduated from Ozawkie Rural High School in 1940 and after high school attended the University of Kansas for one year where she developed a lifelong passion for KU basketball. She then received a 4-H scholarship for outstanding leadership to Kansas State where she attended for one semester. Betty’s mother spoke to a representative from a defense school who convinced her that Billy and Betty should both attend school in Kansas City where Betty learned basic skills required to perform manual labor in a defense plant. This was the start of her career as a Rosie the Riveter. She worked building B-25 airplanes at North American Aviation until June 1945 when World War II was over. She then worked at Goodyear Tire and Rubber for five years. On December 18, 1946, she married Paul Spennrath, and to this union, three daughters were born, Kathleen Diane, Judith Ann, and Wendy Sue.

      Betty met Bernard McCann while waitressing at Champlin’s in Osceola, and they were married on May 29, 1966. To this union, one daughter was born, Betty SueAnn. They lived on the Century Farm in Derby, Iowa, where Betty started her career with the post office. Bernard passed away on June 2, 1995.

     Betty worked for the United States Postal Service for over 30 years and retired in May 1998 after many years of sorting, delivering, and mastering the mail. On December 8, 1998, she was united in marriage with Wayne Thomas. They made their home on the family farm in Cambria.

     Betty loved to garden, both vegetables and flowers. She watched KU basketball whenever she got the chance, and also had a passion for bird watching, writing letters to friends and family, and loved the taste of her granny’s chicken and noodles. Most of all she loved any time she could spend with her daughters and grandchildren. They were her greatest joy. Betty never lost her love for her home state of Kansas, and she would always roll down the windows in the car when driving over the Kansas border and tell us to “Breathe in that good Kansas air!”

     Betty is survived by her husband, Wayne, and daughters Kathy Boor, Judy (Leon) Berkley, Wendy (Randy) Nickell, and SueAnn (Dave) Jones; 11 grandchildren, Chris Boor, Aaron Boor, Jim Berkley, Anne Wright, Barb Hoeksema, Brad Berkley, Blake Berkley, Michelle Siefkas, Lindsey Hanifen, Austin Jones, and Aidan Jones, and 17 great grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents, brother Billy, husband Bernard, and granddaughter, Rebecca Diane Boor.

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