Betty Rosalie (McKelvey) Koelker

Betty Rosalie McKelvey Koelker entered the presence of God peacefully on Wednesday, January 18, 2023, surrounded by her loving family.

She was born in Portsmouth, Ohio, May 5, 1928, the second of seven children to Arthur and Ida McKelvey. She attended local schools, graduating from Portsmouth East High School, then enrolled at Cleveland Bible College where she met the love of her life, Gene Koelker. They married July 1, 1950, after Gene graduated from Eastern Nazarene College. Together they followed God’s call to ministry in the Methodist Church in Maine, serving in Corinna, Berwick, South Portland, Portland, Bangor, and Saco.  Betty moved with Gene to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he worked at the City of Faith for four years in the 80s. After retirement and the death of her husband, Betty made new friends and re-connected with older ones when she moved to Wesley by the Sea in Wells, a community for retired Methodist clergy. She lived there for nine years until moving to Summer Commons in Sanford in March of 2022.

In every parish, she was an important member of the church choir. Music was one of her loves, and she put her whole heart into it.

Betty loved to entertain guests and always tried to make them feel comfortable and welcome. She never tired of conversations about music, the church, her homeland of New Boston, Ohio, and especially her beloved husband and children.

She is survived by three sons; Jon Koelker, and wife, Donna of North Berwick, Steve Koelker, and wife, Shelley of North Yarmouth, and Tom Koelker and wife Patsy of North Berwick, and one daughter, Jane Koelker Burkhart, and husband, Jim of Bangor; fourteen grandchildren; twenty-three great-grandchildren; and four sisters, Norma Burton of Circleville, Ohio, Reada Brock, of Chillicothe, Ohio, Patricia Humble of Winchester, Kentucky, and Kay Jenkins of Plain City, Ohio. Betty counts Dr. John Yieh and daughter Janet as special members of the family.

The family wishes to thank the Preachers Aid Society and the people of Wesley By the Sea; Wentworth Hospice Care’s dedicated and caring staff; and the administration and staff of Summer Commons for their extraordinary care of Mom.

 Funeral arrangements are with Johnson Funeral Home, North Berwick, ME. Condolences, memories and pictures may be shared on her page at www.JohnsonFuneralHomeME.com

Visiting hours are Sunday, January 22 from 1 to 4 pm. at Johnson Funeral Home, 26 Market Street, North Berwick, ME. Funeral services are at St. David’s Episcopal Church, Route 1, Kennebunk, Maine, Tuesday, January 24 at 2 pm. Burial in Hillside Cemetery, North Berwick, ME on  May 5, 2023at 10 am 

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the United Methodist Church Camp @ http://www.mechuwana.org/partners.html, the Preacher’s Aid Society @ www.preachersaid.org

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Betty Rosalie (McKelvey) Koelker, please visit our floral store.