Elizabeth Anne "Betsy" Schwager

Elizabeth Anne “Betsy” Schwager was born on October 23, 1941, in Rock Island, IL, the second
daughter of Dr. Walter Julius Schwager, Sr., a family Dentist, and Genevieve Elizabeth Hillmer
Schwager, an ecology chemist for the state of Illinois. Betsy passed while under the wonderful
and compassionate hospice care of St. Catherine’s Ascension Living Providence Village in Waco,
TX on December 8, 2022.
Betsy attended Denkmann and Sacred Heart Grade Schools in Rock Island, attended Villa de
Chantal in Rock Island, and graduated Salutatorian (2 nd in class) from Notre Dame High School in
Quincy, IL. After high school, she spent 3 years as a Novice at the St. Benedictine Novitiate in
Nauvoo, IL. Then she attended Fontbonne College in St. Louis, University of Illinois, Urbana-
Champaign, and graduated from Western Illinois University, Macomb, IL, earning a Bachelor’s
degree (BA) in Business.
Most of her career was spent as a life insurance specialist with advanced education and
certification from the Life Office Management Association (LOMA) earning the designation of a
Fellow, Life Management Institute (FLMI) Society, the highest designation in the insurance
industry. Betsy worked in Springfield, IL, Chicago, Minneapolis, Dallas, Boston, Austin, Houston
and ended her career in Waco, TX working for American Income Life Insurance Company (AIL).
Betsy was preceded in death by her parents Walter, Sr., Genevieve, her older sister Carol
Schwager Westlake and cousin, Sally Kinney.
She is survived by a brother and sister-in-law, Walter, Jr and wife, Marjorie of Sherman, IL,
several nieces, and nephews, including her special niece, Lisa Schwager Westlake of Paris,
France, and cousin, Margaret Warren of Park Ridge, IL, and many cousins.
Betsy was a marvelous pianist and a former member of the Sweet Adelines. She attended St.
Jerome Catholic Church, in Waco and was a member of the choir where she sang and often
accompanied the choir at the piano.
Of all of her accomplishments in life, she was proudest of her 41 consecutive years of sobriety
and association with Alcoholics Anonymous. In leu of flowers, please send your donations to
your local or national Alcoholics Anonymous organizations.
Betsy touched many lives along the way as she journeyed through life. She now rests in peace
in the arms of our Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus. She will be missed.