Bette Lou (Olson) Harris, of Hot Springs, AR, and formerly of Sioux City and Le Mars, IA, passed away peacefully on Palm Sunday, April 13, 2025, at Happy Siesta Care Center in Remsen.

Mass of Christian Burial will be at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, April 24, 2025, at the Cathedral of the Epiphany in Sioux City. Father David Esquiliano will celebrate Mass. Burial will follow at Calvary Cemetery in Sioux City, Iowa. Visitation with the family present will be from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, April 23, 2025, at Rexwinkel Funeral Home in Le Mars. Expressions of sympathy can be extended to the family through www.rexwinkelfh.com.

Bette Lou was born March 31, 1943, in Sioux City to Arnold and Mary "Dorothy" (Pierson) Benson. Bette attended Cathedral grade school and graduated from Heelan Catholic High School in Sioux City. Bette also attended Garland County Community College in Hot Springs, earning a diploma at age 60.

After her mother's divorce from Arnold Benson, Bette and her sister, Stacia, were adopted as young girls by their mother's new husband, Clifford Olson. Shortly afterwards, their mother was quarantined in Sanitor, SD, for two years while she was treated for tuberculosis. During their time away from their mother, the young sisters learned how much fun farm life in Vermillion, SD, could be. They often talked about their new dad putting them on the backs of his workhorses while he worked the field with them, about their horse named Moonlight, but Bette especially loved their sweet Hereford bull named "Butch." She said the hired hand even jumped on Butch and rode him one day. (Right before her dad fired him.) They later moved to Bronson, IA, where their dad worked on the Uhl Turkey Farm.

Bette fulfilled her dream when she married Richard "Dick" Leaverton at Cathedral of the Epiphany on June 29, 1963. They lived in Sioux City early in their marriage. They had three children together and moved to an acreage outside of Le Mars to raise their family. Bette was the perfect mother - baking chocolate chip cookies, helping the kids with 4H projects, serving as a Boy Scout leader and making sure we attended mass every Sunday. Bette and Dick were married almost 25 years and eventually divorced amicably.

Bette then married the second love of her life, Omega "Mick" Harris in 1994. They lived in Sioux City before relocating to Hot Springs, AR in 2000, where they would live for the next 20 years.

Bette worked in the mailroom at Younkers after high school, and then she worked for Aalf's Mfg., sewing and quality control, for nearly 30 years - earning perfect attendance awards. After going back to school, she worked as a medical receptionist for Hot Springs Neurosurgery, also maintaining a perfect attendance record. Bette also worked as a receptionist for Abilities Unlimited in Hot Springs and came to love every resident she worked with.

Bette's love for family was deep, often describing her children as her three greatest treasures in life. They grew up knowing they were loved beyond measure and that their mother was surely an angel on earth. When her youngest sister and brother were born prematurely (using a shoe box for a bed after birth), Bette spent a large part of her early teen years caring for her siblings, giving up many things that a young teenager would rather do. Bette truly enjoyed life's little things such as finding a four-leaf clover, hunting for pretty rocks, thrifting at secondhand shops, or attending quaint little area festivals. Bette was best known for her sweet disposition, her faith, and her quick wit. She was a devout Catholic, and she lived her life in a way that would make God proud. She was perhaps the sweetest, most positive, least judgmental person anyone ever knew. Every person who knew Bette, absolutely loved Bette. She was a caretaker for others that needed it. She finally quit working at age 75 to care for Mick when he became ill with cancer.

Bette loved animals, especially dogs, and participated in the Pet Therapy Program of Hot Springs, visiting nursing homes. She enjoyed dancing, and she and Mick taught dance lessons at a local college for many years. They helped form a dancing group of close friends in Sioux City called The Drifters, and they were members of Spa City Bop & Swing Dance Club in Hot Springs Village. They competed in many competitions, raising money for charity events through dancing, and even winning a trip to the Country Music Awards in Nashville. Bette loved music and Elvis Presley, and was lucky enough to see him in concert when she was in 8th grade and again in the 1970's. There was hardly a time you did not hear her humming as she went about her day.

Bette was a member of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Hot Springs. After Mick's death in 2019, she moved back to Iowa to be closer to family. Bette lived with her daughter on an acreage in Dickens, attending Dickens United Methodist Church with her daughter and son-in-law. Her grandfather was a Methodist minister in Groton, SD. She moved to Happy Siesta Care Center in Remsen in 2024.

Bette is survived by her daughter, Lana (Robert) Mortenson of Dickens, IA, and sons, Rich Leaverton of Sioux Center, IA, and Derek (Leigh) Leaverton of Pearcy, AR; grandchildren Vincent Leaverton, Cyrus Leaverton, Willie (Courtney) Leaverton, Anna Groszkrueger, Ryker Leaverton, Benjamin (Tessa) De Wit, Jeremy (Kayla) De Wit, Hailey White, Penelope Harris, Paisley Harris,  Kelsey Smith, and Rick D. Smith, sisters Debbie (Doug) Nickerson and Chris Angove; her brother, Randy (Deb) Olson; stepchildren Trina (Mick Healy) Harris of Duvall, WA, Shawn (Emily Jensink) Harris of Denver CO, and Nicolas (Kendra) Harris of Monument, CO;  a brother-in-law, Jerry Leaverton, a sister-in-law Julie Leaverton, as well as nieces, nephews, and other family and friends.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, her sisters, Patti Jo (in infancy), and Stacia Dahlman, and her grandparents, aunts and uncles.