Betty Gene Pruden, 98, Adrian, MO, passed away Thursday, December 17, 2020 at Nathan Richard Nursing Home in Nevada, MO.  Private family services were held on Sunday, December 27, 2020.  Memorial contributions may be made to Adrian Public Library, P.O. Box 306, Adrian, MO 64720.

Betty was born October 3, 1922 on a farm south of Holden, MO, the fifth of six girls born to Clifford Stephen "C. S." and Bessie Ray (Duncan) Davis.  Her mother died when she was just eight years old.  Betty attended school at Pleasant View and graduated from Holden High School, valedictorian in 1939, at the age of 16.  She attended Central Missouri State University until WWII when she went to work in Parsons Kansas at a war plant.

On March 31, 1943, she married Homer Eugene "Gene" Pruden.  They had seven children, four who survived:  Cindy, Roger, Stephen and Christine.

Betty was preceded in death by her parents, her husband of 65 years, Homer Eugene Pruden on March 4, 2009; children: Patricia Elizabeth, Susan Denise and Michael Eugene; and four sisters.  She is survived by two sons: Stephen Pruden (Darlene) and Roger Pruden (Connie), all of Adrian, MO; two daughters: Cindy Kendrick, Adrian and Christine Twyman (Charles), Linn Creek, MO; one sister, Frankie Hancock, Holden, MO; 16 grandchildren; many great-grandchildren, and several great-great-grandchildren.