Funeral services will be 10:30 a.m. Monday, May 2, 2011 at Zion Lutheran Church in Avon, with burial in the church cemetery, rural Avon. Visitation will be at the church Sunday from 4 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., followed by a 7:30 prayer service.

In lieu of flowers, memorials will be directed to Lutheran Hour Ministries, Zion Lutheran Church and the Yankton Homeless Shelter.

Elizabeth Anne "Betty" Brandt, daughter of George and Mary (Vest) Kutsch, was born June 20, 1916 at Kearney, NE. She died unexpectedly Thursday, April 28, 2011 at the Good Samaritan Hospital in Kearney, NE. Betty attained the age of 94 years, ten months and nine days.

Betty's mother died when she was eight years old. Her father's sister moved in with the family and devoted her life to raising the family. Betty grew up in the Sumner, NE area and received her elementary education there. She graduated from Sumner High School in 1937 and then attended Concordia College in Seward, NE, for four years, graduating with a B.A. in Education. Betty taught at parochial schools in Kankakee, Il for two years and in Avon for two years.

While teaching in Avon, she met Fred A. Brandt. They were married August 20, 1941 at the Grace Lutheran Church in Sumner, NE. Fred and Betty returned to the family farm, where they farmed for 50 years. Betty was a homemaker and farming partner and always a teacher at heart. Three sons were blessed to their union. Fred died October 23, 1988. Due to failing eye sight, Betty became a resident of the Springfield Assisted Living Center on February 23, 2009. At the time of her death, she was in Kearney, NE, visiting her sisters.

Betty was confirmed at the Grace Lutheran Church in Sumner. After her marriage, she became a member of Zion Lutheran Church and LWML in Avon, where she actively served all of her life.

Betty will be remembered for her enjoyment of quilting for missions and making church banners with her church group. She especially had a heart for people to know the Lord as their Redeemer. Betty had a quiet, yet powerful, strength..... always a teacher.

Thankful for having shared her life are her sons: Daniel, David and wife Sandra, and Douglas and wife Sharon, all of Avon; 10 grandchildren; 9 great grandchildren; two sisters: Inez Dittmar and Viola Sattler, both of Kearney, NE; and many relatives and friends.

Betty was preceded in death by her husband and her parents.