Betty Laycock

Betty Laycock, 95, passed away on March 22, 2021.  Visitation will be held from 5-6pm on Wed, March 31 at Longview Funeral Home, with services to follow at 6pm.  Burial will take place in East Slope Cemetery, Riverside.  Memorial contributions are suggested to Legacy Christian Church, Overland Park, or Dialysis Center Inc. (DCI), Kansas City, MO.

Betty was born on Dec 5, 1925 to Roy and Violette Overgard.  She was ¼ Danish and was very proud of her heritage and culture.  Betty grew up on a farm and rode a horse to school.  She had a lifelong love for animals and always had a dog, even at the end of her life.

Betty lived through the dust bowls/storms of Kansas and the grasshoppers in the 1930s, and The Great Depression had a major impact on her life.

Because of her father’s work for the Corps of Engineers, the family moved often – 11 times in Betty’s 12 years of school.  She was elected May Queen in high school and was asked to join the Junior Debs.  She ultimately graduated from Louisiana High School in Louisiana, MO in 1943.

Betty had a lifelong love for travel, starting as a young woman when she went by herself to Europe.  She met her husband, Richard Laycock, at the IRS where they both worked, and after they were married on April 12, 1952, they continued their travels together.   For a full month in 1954, they visited England, France, Switzerland, Germany, Holland, and Denmark, cruising on the Rhine to see castles and attending the Independence Day Celebration at Rebild National Park in Denmark that year.  During that trip Betty was able to contact family that had not been heard from since WWII because of the German occupation.  Throughout their marriage, Richard and Betty continued their travels, driving all through the United States in their travel trailer.

Betty was a member of various local churches through the years, beginning at South Side Christian Church in Kansas City, MO, then becoming one of the founding members of Westridge Christian Church in Raytown.  In 1976 she joined Johnson County Christian Church, which later became Legacy Christian Church, Overland Park.  She was an active member of the Crusaders Sunday School Class at Legacy, and she loved the fellowship and friendship of her church family.

Betty was a bookkeeper and a tax preparer; she even still did her daughter’s taxes and mailed Christmas cards every year.  She and Richard also worked as carriers for the Kansas City Star.  She was a strong businesswoman, a wonderful wife, and the best and most supportive mother anyone could wish for.  She exuded confidence, strength, and grace.

Betty was preceded in death by her husband, Richard, on February 4, 1991; she is survived by her daughter, Diane Hutchens, of Lee’s Summit, Mo, and many friends who will miss her dearly.