Virginia Lucille (Bettis) Hinders

Virginia Lucille (Bettis) Hinders, 95, of Sioux City passed away on Tuesday, March 22, 2022 at her daughter’s home after a brief illness.  Online condolences may be directed to www.meyerbroschapels.com.  Burial will be at Logan Park Cemetery on a later date.

Lucille was born on June 27, 1926 in St. Louis, Missouri to Elmer Arthur and Mary Virginia (McKenzie) Bettis. She graduated from Central High School in Sioux City in June of 1944.  In 1969 while working full time and raising her family, she began taking college classes and obtained her Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Morningside College, graduating magna cum laude in May of 1979. 

She met her future husband, Robert (Bob) Lee Hinders at Rigadon roller skate rink (Sioux City).  Bob, a native Ohioan, was in Sioux City training at the Sioux City Air Base before being deployed to England as a B-17 tail gunner in WW II.  The two corresponded by letter, and when he returned to the States, they were married in South Sioux City on November 11, 1945.  A marriage that lasted almost 70 years, before Bob died in February 2015.

 Lucille’s first job in 1941 was as an “alteration lady” at Three Sisters Clothing Store, where she received no salary, but was paid by customers for alterations.  She spent most of her time reading as there wasn’t much call for the “sewing lady.”  Before school started the following fall, she was hired as a hardware clerk at Katz Drug Store where she worked during high school.  When her children were older, she worked for a CPA as an income tax preparer before working as Assistant Cashier in the Business Office at Morningside College for seven years.  She then accepted the position of Bookstore Manager at Morningside College, a career that lasted another thirteen years.

Family was important to Lucille.  She hosted many large gatherings where her grandson, Josh, masterminded ping pong tournaments with all participating. Other highlights included family breakfast picnics (she brought the homemade cinnamon rolls) and spending time with her grandchildren, who called her grandma Lu (or Lu-Lu).  Always ready to play tennis, cards, or board games, help with difficult homework, assist with sewing projects, and bake cookies. She was the go-to person for difficult statistical and trigonometry questions.  Her talents included successfully bottle feeding a litter of wild cottontail rabbits and a litter of guinea pigs.

Lucille loved to travel, a love she shared with family members, including overseas trips to Italy and England with her husband, and to Spain with her daughter. As a Bookstore Manager, she was able to attend Bookstore conventions.  She had fond memories of a convention in Orlando, where she visited Cape Canaveral and Cocoa Beach.

Retirement years at a lake house, a beautiful site for family gatherings, birthday parties and boating.  A border collie mix arrived in her life that she loved dearly. Samson was rambunctious, loyal, and always ready to learn a new trick. Bob and Lu played a lot of Scrabble; wins and losses were recorded, and the competition was fierce.

Survivors include her children: Roger Hinders (Betty) of Oregon; Marla Kerr (Kevin) of Sioux City; and David Hinders (Alice) of Omaha; daughter-in-law, Carole Hinders of Spirit Lake, IA; grandchildren: Olga Hinders (Brian), Emily Jones (Doug), Rachel DeBoer (Dustin), Eva Merz (Mark), and Dale Hinders (Natalie); and great-grandchildren: Spy, Oona, Lily, Josie, Arcade, Winston, Langston, Keenan, Link, and Ash.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Robert Hinders; a daughter, Sarita Harrington; a grandson, Joshua Hinders; and her three siblings, Royal Bettis, Mary Francis Larson, and Elmer Arthur Bettis, Jr.