Betty Ruth Simpson

Betty Simpson left this world to be with her Lord and Savior on October 11, 2020, having just celebrating her 88th birthday with her three children. Born Betty Ruth Ropp on October 2, 1932, Betty was the daughter of Thelma Tipton Ropp and Eli August Ropp, and the brother to Robert Eli “Bud” Ropp. She spent her childhood on a dairy farm in Toronto, Kansas. As a teenager, she showed cattle, participated in 4-H, and worked hard with her parents on the farm.

At the age of 19, she married Bobby Lee Marhofer, with whom she had three children, Lynn “Bubba”, Linda, and Bill. When Bobby was killed in a tragic accident shortly after the birth of her third child, Betty started working at Prince’s Drive In to make ends meet. With incredible perseverance and a dogged work ethic, she was able to raise three children, largely as a single mother.

In 1978, she married Dave Simpson, a long-time friend. Together, Betty and Dave traveled extensively. While Betty enjoyed many of the destinations she visited, she spoke the most fondly of living in Australia, where she ran her own truck delivery company, Busy Bee Hot Shot Freight, in the outback. Eventually, she returned from overseas and settled on a farm in Missouri with her youngest son, Bill, and his family in Norwood. On the farm, she enjoyed helping with the cattle and was active in Denlow Church. She was a patriot and proud member of Daughters of the American Revolution. When Dave passed in 1993, she moved to Mountain Grove, where she continued square dancing with the Mountain View Mountaineers Square Dance Club, an activity that brought her much joy.

While she had many good friends in Missouri, she relocated to Tomball, Texas several years ago to be closer to her three children. In her 80s, she continued filling tax returns, proudly completing 32 years at H&R Block. In her final years, she enjoyed playing bingo and Kings in the Corner with her friends at The Heritage.

She is survived by her three children and their spouses, Lynn “Bubba” Marhofer and wife Susan, Linda Niehuus and husband Sam, and Bill Marhofer and wife Cindy, as well as eight grandchildren, six great-grandchildren, and three great-great-grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Boys and Girls Country: A Home for Children, or St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital (memorial ID 22119773).