Betty Jo Bickel (Plainview)

Betty Jo Bickel, 97, of Plainview passed away on Saturday, September 23, 2023 at her home.  A memorial service will be held on Monday, October 2, 2023 at 2:00 p.m. in the chapel of Kornerstone Funeral Home Directors  with Lanny Voss officiating.  Interment  will follow in Enid, Oklahoma.

Betty was born on December 10, 1925 in Chickasha,  Oklahoma to Wall W. and Carrie Mae Ward. She graduated as Valedictorian from her high school in Hobart, Oklahoma.  On July 12, 1945 she married Glenn Bickel, Jr. in Wichita, Kansas. They were married 75 years until Glenn’s death on June 21, 2020. Betty devoted her life to teaching, counseling, and being a mentor to young people. She loved education and graduated with honors with both the Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees from Oklahoma State University. She took great joy from influencing her students to learn and hunger for more learning believing it vital to prepare them for productive lives.  Glenn and Betty established the Glenn D. and Betty J. Bickel Endowed Scholarship at Wayland Baptist University in 2002 funding the scholarship to provide financial assistance to junior or senior level education major students at WBU. They established the scholarship based on their enduring belief that education was essential to live successfully and productively in the modern world. Assisting Wayland students majoring in education was a tangible expression of the value they placed upon higher education.  Betty was a long time member of First United Methodist Church where she had served on the Building Committee, Church Board, and the Educational Committee.

She is preceded in death by her husband Glenn, her sisters, Patsy Newberry, Ava Jean Brack, and Helen Borin, and her niece, Penny Newberry.  She is survived by her niece Tricia Bosse, two grandnieces, Heidi Germain and Portia Bosse, and great grandnephew, Alexander Germain.  She is also survived by Earnest Cromeans, who was like a family member to Betty.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a memorial to the Glenn D. and Betty J. Bickel Endowed Scholarship at Wayland Baptist University.