Bette LeFlore Lemmon Hillner

Bette LeFlore Lemmon Hillner went home to her Heavenly Father on Saturday, October 10, 2026. Bette passed her 87th birthday in July of this year. She was loved by both family and friends and her smile and fighting spirit will be missed.

Bette, the only child of Edna Marie Riggs Lemmon and Earl Augustus Lemmon, Jr., was born in Glendale, in the Los Angeles region of California. Her father was a Superintendent for the Pacific Fruit Express, and her mother worked for a time at JC Penney. Creative as a girl, Bette took piano in her younger years and was a devout member of Bethel Twenty-three International Order of Job’s Daughters. She spent many years devoted in service to that organization and was crowned Honored Queen in November of 1956 at the Winter Wonderland Installation of Officers. When she graduated from high school Bette, her mother and a close friend chose to tour the United States via the railroad and went on a long journey where she stopped and enjoyed many cities along the way including New York City and Washington D.C. That trip and her role as Honored Queen were some of the highlights of her younger years.

After graduation, Bette went to live with her uncle: Captain Robert Lemmon and his family in Washington D.C. – who in addition to serving as an officer in the United States Navy was also acting as President of the Newport, Rhode Island Branch of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Bette was not an active member of the church at that time, but lived with her uncle for approximately two years while she worked at the Pentagon. She often recalled those years in Washington as some of the happiest and most education packed years of her life.

When she was 21, she met and married a young flight student in the United States Navy – James Curtis Hillner. She married Jim on August, 26, 1960 in Glendale. The young married couple resided first in Los Angeles, and then in Palm Springs, California. While living in California, Bette and Jim welcomed two daughters to the family: Kari Lynn and Leslie Anne. Jim became a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints while living in Palm Springs, and decided to move the family to Utah as a result. The family moved to Utah and Jim became an employee of Mountain Bell. Bette was pregnant with their third child during the move and gave birth within the first few months to Curtis Scott. It was just a few short years later when she and Jim welcomed the final member of the family: Russell Ralph.

While living in Draper, Utah, Bette became an avid researcher of genealogical records and spent many hours in the church genealogy library located in Salt Lake City. The love of doing family research became a life-long passion, and she would later serve as a missionary for the church’s genealogy department in Draper, Utah; Williamsburg, Virginia; and finally in Mesa, Arizona. Bette served in many callings for the church, but it was the genealogy callings that she enjoyed the most.

Bette would remain a faithful disciple of the church throughout her life. Her family knows she was welcomed home with open arms by her Savior Jesus Christ, her mother and father, and the love of her life – Jim Hillner.

Bette is survived by her children: Kari (Ron) Trogdon, Leslie (Darren) Jewkes, Curt (Nola) Hillner, and Russ (Deb) Hillner. She is also survived by her grandchildren: Jennifer (Jacob) Throolin, Tyler (Janae) Trogdon, Kaleb (Taryn) Trogdon, Ken (Shannon) Hodgson, Daniel (Lydia) Hodgson, Hallie (Carter) Peck, Jarren Dean Hillner, Kole Hillner, Lexie Hillner, Allie (Tyler) Robbins, Isabelle (Trace) Greenhalgh, Paige Hillner; and great-grandchildren: Emma, Linnea and Elsa Throolin; Jenna, Tara, Daniel, Quinn, and Nils Trogdon; Michael Kevin, Kenneth (LD) and Mia Hodgson; Eloise and Wilhelmina Hodgson; Macie Jane and Blaire Adley Peck; and Nora Jean Robbins.

Bette was laid to rest with her beloved husband in the Delta City Cemetery.