Wayne Edward Bettner, 89, of Paw Paw, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, May 30, 2023, at OSF St. Anthony Medical Center in Rockford, IL. He was surrounded by his family when he passed.
Wayne was born June 15, 1933, to Earl and Mildred Alice Bettner in Viola Township. He attended a country school in Inlet, IL and his teacher was May Tiffany. He graduated from Lee Center High School in 1952. He worked at Del Monte in Mendota and DeKalb and was a warehouse foreman and known for his quick math and ability to chart the cases of canned goods. He was in a farm tiling business with his cousin, Richard Bettner, and he worked at Mayrath in Compton, IL. He worked in the Heating Plants at NIU in Dekalb for 26 years and was Assistant Chief when he retired.
Wayne was very active in his Paw Paw Lions Club and is most remembered for working the Tractor Pull gates on Labor Day, wearing his John Deere attire. He raised money for the club by selling raffle tickets, roses, and candy on Candy Day. He worked in the lunch wagon at farm auctions, too. Wayne and Ronnie Lysland started the first Paw Paw Tractor Pull on Labor Day 1968. Wayne has pulled his Minneapolis Moline U every year from 1968 to 2022 at the Paw Paw Labor Day Pull. This was his first tractor and he bought it to farm an acreage in Compton, IL that belonged to his aunt and his father.
Wayne is survived by his wife of 54 years, Joyce Sims Bettner; his son Robert (Claudette) Bettner of Paw Paw,; daughters Debra Bettner of Sandwich, IL and Nora (Glenn) Miller of Hinckley; grandsons Johnny Weir of Hainesville, IL and Tyler Miller of Amboy, IL; granddaughters, Tiffany (Mark) Aska of Mendota, IL and Taylor Miller of Bellevue, NE; great granddaughters Malia Aska, Lyanna Aska and Lily Miller; grandchildren and great-grandchildren in the Judi & Mike Ryan family of Acra NY, the Becki & Kevin Hawbaker family of Mendota, IL, Mike & Amber Tarr family of Deerton, MI, Darrin & Cheri Hunter family of Crest Hill IL, Colette & Dwight Richards family of Palmer, TN.
Also surviving Wayne is his 93 year old sister Dorothy Lee-Adams of Troy, MO; his nieces and nephews, Rhonda Gross of Mendota, IL, Jeff (Shelia) Bettner of Mendota, IL, David Rex of Compton, IL, Alice Otey Mulder of West Palm Beach, FL, Rick Lee of Neosko, MO, Butch (Cathy) Lee of Colorado Springs, CO, and Carol (Keith) Schultz of Troy MO.
He was preceded in death by his parents and daughter, Barbara Weir.
Funeral services for Wayne will be at 11:00 A.M. Friday, June 2, 2023, at the Paw Paw Bible Church, 410 7th Street, in Paw Paw with Pastor Jed Cary officiating. Visitation will be from 9:00 A.M. until the time of the service Friday at the church. Interment will follow in the Wyoming Township Cemetery, and there will be lunch at the church. Memorials may be directed to the charity of their choice. Wayne’s favorites are St. Jude, Paw Paw Lions Club and NICE in Lee, IL. Please visit www.TormanFuneralHome.com to sign the online guest book.
