Betty J. Kjelden, age 80, of Brookings, died Friday, June 10, 2005, at the Hendricks Community Hospital in Hendricks, Minnesota. Funeral services will be 10:30 A.M. Wednesday, June 15, 2005, at Our Savior Evangelical Lutheran Church in Brookings, with interment at Fairview Cemetery at White. Visitations will be from 5-8 P.M. Tuesday at Eidsness Funeral Home in Brookings. Betty Jean (Hicks) Kjelden was born April 28, 1925, near White, South Dakota, to Amos Edgar and Ernestine Johanna Paulina (Preussler) Hicks. She grew up on the farm, and attended country school in Districts No. 61 and No. 63. She completed two years of high school in White, her third year in Bemidji, Minnesota, while living with her brother Vern, and graduated from White High School in 1943. On June 10, 1943, she married Edwin C. Kjelden at Ivanhoe, Minnesota. They farmed near White until 1967. Betty worked at the Palace Caf for twelve years, four years for John DeBeer as an egg grader, and also for the Brookings School cafeteria and Brookings Hospital laundry department. Ed died March 22, 2003. Betty was a member of Our Savior Evangelical Lutheran Church in Brookings. She played the accordion in the Town and Country Swingers band beginning in 1969, and the Country Cousins beginning in 1979. She received an award for her music from the Arkota Ballroom. She also enjoyed painting, traveling, and bowling. Survivors include four sons: Larry E. (Pat) Kjelden of Gresham, Oregon, Robert O. (Lori) Kjelden of Shoreview, Minnesota, Keith E. (Lynn) Kjelden of Edwards, Colorado, and Duane O. Kjelden of Brookings; five grandchildren: Todd Kjelden, Amber Voelker, Aryn Kjelden, Ryan Kjelden, and Amanda Kjelden; four great-grandchildren; a brother, Marvin Hicks, of Jefferson, Oregon; a sister, Grace Hakinson, of Brookings; and two brothers-in-law, Orville and Lloyd Kjelden, of Brookings. She was preceded in death by her parents; husband; six brothers: Delbert, Vern, Floyd, Ole, Charles, and Harry Hicks; and two sisters: Hazel Lokkeberg and Daisy Kracke.