Betty M. Didier

    Betty M. Didier, who died of congestive heart failure on Sunday, July 15, at Lincoln Village in Port Washington, was not only the matriarch of the Didier family, she was “a fixture in the rural community, the Ozaukee County farm family,” her daughter-in-law Pat Didier said.
    Mrs. Didier, who was 103, worked on the family’s Town of Port Washington farm beside her husband Nick for many years.
    The couple also ran the family’s real estate and auction business out of their home office for years.
    “He would bring people over to the house and work out the deals,” their daughter-in-law said. “Almost every Saturday, there was an auction. Betty was the head clerk and money changer.
    “She had a very good head for business. She was very intelligent.”
    Mrs. Didier was born in Milwaukee on April 23, 1915, the daughter of Nicholas and Mary Weyer Heintskill.
    She met Nick Didier through friends, and the couple married in Milwaukee on Aug. 26, 1944.
    They initially lived in Milwaukee but then moved to Ozaukee County, first to Belgium and then to the family farm in the Town of Port in 1947.
    The couple operated a dairy farm until their barn burned in 1971, then converted to cash crops.
    After her husband suffered a stroke in 1973, Mrs. Didier cared for him until his death in 1975.
    “She was a wonderful head of the family,” her daughter-in-law said. “She was an example of unconditional love. She never found fault with anyone. She never complained. She never asked for anything.
    “She was the perfect role model. She taught me how to be a mother-in-law.”
    Mrs. Didier was involved in the community, and was a member of the Port Washington Woman’s Club and the Homemakers Club.
    For years, she was a fixture in the cream puff stand at the Ozaukee County Fair that was operated by the Homemakers Club.
    She enjoyed traveling, visiting such places as China, Japan and Luxembourg, and took many bus trips with the clubs.
    She enjoyed reading and took up golf for a couple of years.
    She was also a member of St. John XXIII Catholic Parish in Port Washington.
    “She was busy,” her daughter-in-law added. “She spent a lot of time with the business and maintaining the household.”
    Mrs. Didier was an independent woman who enjoyed living on the family farm near her family until moving to Lincoln Village in January.
    She is survived by her sons Peter (Pat) and Nick (Sandee), both of Port Washington, daughter-in-law Connie Didier of Cedar Grove, grandchildren Tom (Lora), Mike (Ali), Dave (Melissa) and Nicholas (special friend Abbey Wiskirchen) Didier, KC (Brandon) Moore, Adam Didier and Carrie (Keith) Mackey; and 13 great-grandchildren.
    In addition to her husband Nick, she was preceded in death by her son Bill, grandson Joe, sisters Adele Ryan and Marie Jacoby and brothers Joe, Peter and Henry Heintskill.
    A Mass of Christian burial will be held at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, July 19, at St. John XXIII Parish, St. Mary’s Catholic Church, in Port Washington. Father Pat Wendt will officiate.
    Visitation will be at the church from 2:30 p.m. Thursday until the Mass.
    Burial will be in St. Mary’s Cemetery.
    In lieu of flowers, memorials to the St. John XXIII School Building Fund are suggested.
    Funeral arrangements are being handled through Eernisse Funeral Home, Port Washington.