COLUMBUS JUNCTION, Iowa - Bettie Oakes, 81, of Columbus Junction, died Wednesday, May 30, 2007, at Mercy Hospital in Iowa City following a courageous battle with cancer.

The Rev. Catherine Whitlatch will officiate.

Casketbearers will be David Kauffman, Marvin Prior, Tom Clark, Jeff Wellington, Jason Hoyle, Wayne Barnes, Monte Kauffman and Chuck Plank.

Burial will be in the Columbus City Cemetery.

Memorials may be directed to the Columbus City United Methodist Church, the Allen Wright Hanft American Legion Post 100 and the Iowa City Hospice.

Mrs. Oakes was born March 12, 1926, in Louisa County, the daughter of Warnie and Ocie (McFarland) Moran.

She married Bill Oakes in January 1946. They later divorced.

She was a member of the Columbus City United Methodist Church, the American Legion Auxiliary for 50 years and the N.E.A.

She taught for and closed several one-room country schools and continued teaching with the L-M School system for 27 years.

She enjoyed flowers, watching birds, visiting with neighbors and friends and she especially loved spending time with her family.

She will be dearly missed by her daughter, Peggy Deaton of Columbus Junction; four grandchildren, Will Deaton and his wife, Wendy, of Grand Rapids, Mich., Tara Deaton of Columbus Junction and her fiancé, Jason Hoyle, of Wayland, Sara Deaton and her fiancé, Jeff Wellington, of Columbus Junction and Amy Oakes of Kansas; two great-grandchildren, Maya Deaton and Dayton Oakes; two brothers, Lloyd Moran of Columbus Junction and Bill Moran and wife, Beth, of Independence, Mo.; and three sisters, Marguerite Malle of Pittsburg, Kan., Janet Cowger and husband, Dean, of Mediapolis and Velma Hamilton and husband, Bob, of Montezuma, Iowa.

She was preceded in death by her parents; a daughter in infancy, Jane Ellen; a son, Joseph Paul Oakes; two sisters, Verna Maude Moran and Ruth Sanden; and a brother, Jakie Moran.