Betty June Whelan (Starr)

Betty June Whelan, 85, of Independence, MO, passed away on Wednesday, February 24, 2016. A visitation will be held at New Hope Baptist Church, 18000 E. Lexington Rd., Independence, MO, on Friday, February 26, from 9:30-11:00 am. A funeral service will follow at 11:00 am at the church. A private interment will be held at Park Lawn Cemetery. Betty June was born in Wauhillau, near Stilwell, OK, on September 16, 1930, the youngest daughter of Eugene Frank Starr and Sadie (Sitton) Starr. She was baptized in 1941 at the First Baptist Church of Stilwell, OK. She married Thomas Eugene Whelan in October 1947 in Kansas City, and they resided there until 1957, when they moved with their three children to Chattanooga, TN, where Eugene Whelan attended Tennessee Temple University to become a Baptist minister. In December 1966 they returned to the Kansas City area, where Betty June supported her husband in his role as pastor at New Hope Baptist Church in Independence. During that time, she also worked at the Missouri Water Company for about fifteen years. As a minister’s wife, Betty June taught children’s church, conducted women’s conferences, accompanied her husband on numerous missionary trips to New Mexico, Ecuador, and Romania, as well as several tours to Israel and the Holy Land. She was an avid doll and book collector, many pertaining to the Cherokee Nation, of which she was a member of the tribe. After Rev. Whelan’s retirement, they traveled extensively and lived for a time in New York City. Her friends and family remember her devotion to her family, faith, and her extensive knowledge of the Bible.
Survivors include her two sisters, Ila Mae Martin, formerly of Winston-Salem, NC, and Nelda Lowee Worthington of Overland Park, KS; her two sons, Ronald Eugene Whelan and wife Beverley of Villa Rica, GA, and Timothy Whelan and wife Star of Jacksonville, FL; her six grandchildren, Diana Perkins, Overland Park, KS; James Perkins (Amanda), Ely, Cambridgeshire, UK; Heather Whelan-Holt (James), Philadelphia, PA; Caleb Whelan, Villa Rica, GA; Ashleigh-Brooke Whelan, Atlanta, GA; and ZiYi Zhang Whelan; three great-granddaughters, Samantha, Kylena, and Makayla. She was preceded in death by her parents, her beloved husband Eugene, and her daughter, Kathleen Sarah Perkins. The family encourages contributions to New Hope Baptist Church in her memory. Online condolences may be left at www.speakschapel.com (Arrangements: Speaks Suburban Chapel 816-373-3600)