February 26, 1953 – Saturday, September 2, 2017
Service Information
The Peterson Chapel, Buffalo, MN
Saturday, September 16, 2017
4:00 PM
Visitation Information
The Peterson Chapel, Buffalo, MN
Saturday, September 16, 2017
3-4 PM
Betty Loraine (Dumke) Abfalter, age 64, of Howard Lake, MN passed away in her home on September 2, 2017 after an agonizing battle with multiple aggressive cancers.
Betty was born to Willard and Kathrine Dumke on February 26, 1953 in Minneapolis, MN. She married Walter “Butch” Abfalter on February 10, 1973 in Buffalo, MN. She gave birth to four daughters but was called Mom or Grandma by many. Betty was the “Gorilla Glue” that held the family together. Whether you called with a question about cooking, animals, any kind of alignment, cars, plants, life or anything else, she had the answer for you or would do everything she could to get you an answer or help in any way possible. Betty’s greatest passion in life was always animals. She seemed to have a connection with them. She helped any animal she could and took many strays off the street (both 4 legged and 2 legged!) and gave them homes and even fostered abused animals, showing the all true and genuine love. She even got her certificate for Vet Tech from Penn Foster School.
One thing we will all miss is Betty’s famous pumpkin pie that she only made once a year and would stay up all night making them the night before Thanksgiving. It was a challenge, to say the least, to find anyone that didn’t like her pie, even when they said they don’t like pumpkin pie.
Her home was always open, day or night, for her loved ones and friends. She would give her last and sacrifice her own wants and needs, trying to help. When you would go to her house, Betty would make sure you had food in your belly before you left. She loved to cook for others and watch their expressions when she told them to eat the hot, home-cooked meal she just made and to eat until they were full, and she would make sure you did just that. Seeing the gratification, appreciation, thankfulness and happiness in others eyes from what she could offer warmed her heart, made her feel needed and appreciated and reminded her of the good she was doing (because her whole family took her generosity for granted and just expected her to make everything right.)
Betty is preceded in death by her father Willard, her mother Katherine and step-father Barney Dillon.
She is survived by her husband, her four daughters Dawn, Ann (Larry), Roxanne and Stephanie (“Cougar”); eight grandchildren John, Julie, Jessie, Kristen (Taylor) Buhmann and Alison Abfalter, Michael and Katura Williams and Leona Moore; nine great-grandchildren Jayden, Jacob, Kayden, Audrianna, Wynter, Cloe, Issac, William and Anna; other relatives and friends.
Legacy of Love
A wife, a mother, a grandma too,
This is the legacy we have from you.
You taught us love and how to fight
You gave us strength, you gave us might.
A stronger person would be hard to find,
And in your heart, you were always kind.
You fought for us all in one way or another,
Not just as a wife, not just as a mother.
For all of us, you gave your best,
Now the time has come for you to rest.
So go in peace, you’ve earned your sleep,
Your love in our hearts, we’ll eternally keep.