IN LOVING MEMORY OF
Betty Ellen
Pontier
December 25, 1930 – February 5, 2016
Obituary
Please note: In lieu of flowers, Betty Pontier's family is requesting that donations be made to the Betty Pontier Memorial Fund. Betty loved to work with African children, women and Bible school students. Money received through donations to this fund will be given to these ministries on Betty's behalf. You can give by sending a check made out to Africa Inland Mission with a separate note included specifying that it's "for the Betty Pontier Memorial Fund"; address is: Africa Inland Mission, PO Box 3611, Peachtree City, GA, 30269 or donations can be made online by copying and pasting this link: https://www.egsnetwork.com/gift2?giftid=B4F1595C40C8409
Betty Ellen Pontier recently expressed her heart's goal, "I want to be faithful to Jesus Christ to the end." And she was. The nurses and aides at Clermont Health and Rehab remarked, "She is special with a sweet joy in her and with no despair – different from others." They spoke of her peace during the last year and a half while the strain of cancer wore away her body. Throughout her life she was known as inspirational, faithful and selfless.
Betty was born on Jesus' birthday in 1930. December 25th celebrates Jesus, "God with us" in a humble birth. Betty lived down to earth as well and in her deep love for God, one couldn't help but see Christ in her.
Her father, Rev. Henry DeNeui, a preacher in River Grove, IL and Florence, her mother, raised 7 children during the depression. Betty learned to stretch provisions: jam OR peanut butter, but not both. She had three younger sisters, Ruth, Dorothy and Grace. She set the example with persuasive words, not domineering, but with meek courageousness. Henry Jr, her older brother, along with Jim and Doug, younger brothers, included her in their mischief and fun. She was ready for adventure and had a joyful sense of humor.
Betty wanted to teach and live in Africa. From 1950 to '52 she studied Bible at Moody in Chicago. There she met Ray. African born and uncomfortable with American culture, Ray Pontier longed to live on the farthest frontier, at the end of the road in Congo. He too had a deep love and commitment to God. It was true love, and on Sept. 9, 1952, they married. They moved to John Brown University in Arkansas, where Betty pursued classes in teaching. When she gave birth to little Ronny she put aside her degree, wanting to be with her baby.
As members of Africa Inland Mission, Betty and Ray arrived in Congo in May 1955 to the thrill of hundreds of Africans welcoming back Ray and his pretty new wife and child. With a trust that God would help her, and with a quiet toughness, she adapted to African life, soon enjoying having the Africans cook for her and care for her babies. She had a sense of anticipation rather than anxiety.
By 1963 Betty had 5 children: Ron, Jean, Jim, Carol and Martha. She was extremely faithful to them, her husband and to God. Betty led women's groups, teaching sewing and God's Word; she was a dental assistant for her husband; she did accounting; and she wrote thousands of letters on those blue air forms. She flight-followed airplanes and talked daily on radio networks. As she visited villages her children enjoyed tagging along.
In the early '70s Ray and Betty shared a passion for the tribes in Southern Sudan and moved to Katri, Sudan to build the Katri Bible School. Here Betty had a kids club of 160 village children. At first she didn't know their language so she taught them "The Hokey Pokey" ("I put my right foot out…") and "Head and Shoulders Knees and Toes". With all the motions, yelling in fun, Betty was loved by the kids.
Sudan was the hardest place for Betty to live, yet she was willing to do anything. Her total trust in God kept her from fearing the blast of a land mine, bullets whizzing by, and government rebel uprisings. She would not give up. She raised kids with no medical help in hundreds of miles, lived in tents, washed dirty blue jeans by hand and cooked over three stones. With a quiet toughness and inspiration, she sang from her heart songs like "Are we down hearted? No, no, no…." and "A tent or a cottage, why should I care? He's building a mansion for me over there." She lived with God's peace in her mind and wanted the whole world to know that Jesus loved them and died for all sins so every person could have God's peace and LIFE.
Moving to Kenya in the 1990s Betty managed Amani Acre Guesthouse on the Indian Ocean. She ministered to tired and needy missionaries and British expatriates, and she led Bible studies with her Kenyan workers. In 1998 Betty and Ray retired to Clermont, FL.
Her beloved Ray was taken to heaven in May 2004, so she moved to AIM's retirement center in Minneola. Betty drove elderly residents to doctor's appointments, to shopping, and to church. She wrote cards to everyone in two nursing homes. Grandma Betty opened her home to 13 grandkids. She radiated kindness, interest, and humor. Her door was always open and she was never too busy.
The hardest trial she experienced was when Martha, her youngest daughter, died of Dengue Fever in April of 2013. After this loss, cancer began its fight with Betty. Again a quiet toughness set in. To her, the battle was not about cancer but the determination to be joyful and not despair.
From the beginning she was ready for heaven, at peace with herself and all people. God had other plans. Betty lay in a nursing home under Hospice care from April 2014 to Feb 2016. She was His witness, smiling and faithfully sharing God's love from a bed. She blessed caretakers and visitors, encouraged them and challenged them to accept Jesus Christ. On February 5, 2016, Betty met her Lord and Savior face to face. She had faithfully loved and served Him all her life. A few days before this, she awoke to a nurse wanting to give her medication. She asked why the nurse had interrupted her listening to the most beautiful music – like nothing on this earth.
We will miss Betty – sister to 3 living siblings, mother to 4 adult married children, grandma to 13 grandkids (6 of them married) and great-grandma to 7 (with two more on the way). We are at peace. Betty is talking it all over with Jesus, and their arms are holding each other. She's living it up with Ray and Martha and visiting with many others in the land filled with the best music you will ever hear!
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Betty Ellen Pontier, please visit our flower store.
Services
Funeral Service
February
13
Hillside Community Church (Formerly Christian Missionary Alliance)
Starts at 2:00 pm
Graveside Service
February
13
Oak Hill Cemetery
Starts at 3:45 pm
Betty Ellen Pontier's Guestbook
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