Betty Alice Oswald Higgins

Betty Alice Oswald Higgins, 86, passed away peacefully on Sunday, April 11, 2021 at University Hospital in Columbia, MO. Betty was born February 22, 1935, in Moniteau County near Tipton, MO the daughter of George Franklin Oswald and Margaret Bishop Oswald. On January 2, 1976 she was united in marriage to Jimmie Dale Higgins in Otterville, MO. Betty attended Byberry and Gilroy Elementary Schools in Cooper County and graduated from Otterville Public High School in 1953. In 1994 she received an Associates of Applied Science Degree in Computer Information Systems and Accounting from State Fair Community College, Sedalia, MO. She worked for Weber/Stride Rite Footwear; Tipton, MO for thirty-seven years as an accountant and Inventory Control Coordinator and at Webster University on WAFB as the Secretary to the Director for 4 years, from which she retired in 1998. Throughout her life she lived in rural Cooper County, Tipton, and Otterville before moving to LaMonte in 1980, where she spent the remainder of her life. Betty was an excellent writer, winning first place in the State of Missouri, as a high school senior, for her essay “How Does the United Nations Affect American Youth” in the Div. II of the American Legion Auxiliary Contest. She would continue to follow her passion writing several poems, essays, and songs. Betty fulfilled her dream of becoming a published author in 2017 with her novel Lillihill. Other notable works include her book Winds of Ages, George & Margaret Oswald Family ~ and the McCulloch Family. Her other hobbies included spending time with her family, tending to her flower garden, cooking, and documenting genealogy. Betty is survived by two children: daughter, Dr. Margaret Rene’ Watring Yoesel (Phil) of Warrenton MO and son, Mark Leslie Watring (Dana) of Sedalia, MO. Three grandchildren and five great-grandchildren, Rachel Marie Thompson (Jim); Parker and Maren, of Coronado, CA. Joshua Erich Fox (Whitney); Lola, Ryder, and Bristol, of Warrenton, MO. Felicity Suzanne Watring and fiancée Adam Cerullo, of Belton, MO. Other survivors include a sister, Virginia Palmer of Sedalia, MO and sister-in-law, Sue Oswald Peoples of Otterville, MO. Betty was preceded in death by her parents, three brothers; Elmer Franklin Oswald, Allen William Oswald, George Mack Oswald and three sisters; Alma Belle Peoples, Margaret Helen Peoples, Bertha Ruth Fowler. A Celebration of Life will be scheduled for a later date with burial in the Otterville IOOF Cemetery. In lieu of flowers the family suggests memorial contributions be made to maintenance funds for The Otterville Cemetery, The Syracuse Cemetery or the Cooper County Historical Society for The Woods Family Cemetery (also known as the McCulloch/Bishop Cemetery).