On May 21, 2026 Betty J. Carsten completed her earthly journey and was welcomed into her heavenly home.

Betty was born February 14, 1931 to Jack and Caroline (Geppert) Mulcrone. As the oldest of five children, her early life was marked by deep challenges- none greater than losing her own mother at the tender age of six. Yet, God sent a compassionate couple into her life to help lighten her heavy load.  She always thanked God for Charles and Ellen Konechne and all they did for her.  With their help and her determination, she met all her challenges with a quiet strength that defined her character. She rewrote her story with love, perseverance, grace and unshakeable faith in God. She met the love of her life, Perry Carsten, and they were united in marriage on May 27, 1949.

While life was not always easy for Perry and Betty, God placed a lifelong blessing in their lives. To the world, he was known as Louis Viktora. To the Carsten family, there isn't just one single word that accurately describes what Louis was to them.

Betty's devotion as a mother never wavered. Through sacrifice and grace, she built a home filled with warmth and unconditional love. Together Perry and Betty brought eight beautiful children into the world, Linda (Charles) Bannwarth, Mitchell SD, Sharon (Leroy) Konechne, Wickenburg AZ, Kathy (Mike) Pazour Pukwana SD, Christine Pazour Rapid City SD, Cynthia (Daniel) Knippling. Kimball SD, John (Marilyn) Carsten Platte SD, Gayle Hines Sioux Falls SD, Lee (Rhoda) Carsten Kimball, SD, leaving an example of what a mother's love is that will endure for generations to come. Her legacy lives on through the lives she brought into the world and loved so deeply.

Betty had many hobbies in her life. A passionate gardener, she took great pride in tending the earth, using her knowledge of horticulture to teach others and to feed those she loved. She embraced a life of simple, beautiful traditions-whether she was canning the fruits of her harvest, baking fresh bread, or tending to her chickens.

For Betty, nourishing her family was her second greatest joy. Above all, her ultimate devotion was always to her faith. When Perry went home to be with the Lord in 2008, he took a part of her heart with him, a loss that changed her life forever.

Yet, through all the years that followed, she remained steadfast in her unwavering faith, anchored by the comforting assurance that they would one day be reunited in Heaven. She is survived by her 8 children as well as her honorary son Pete Westergreen who she did not give birth to but loved with a mother's heart from the moment he became part of her family. Betty had 30 grandchildren, 71 great grandchildren and 4 great-great grandchildren.

Along with her husband Perry, she is preceded in death by her parents and all of her siblings and Perry's siblings and grandson Randall Carsten.

Funeral services for Betty J. Carsten, 95, of Kimball, SD will be 10:00 a.m., Tuesday, May 26, 2026 at St. Margaret's Catholic Church in Kimball, SD.  Visitation will begin Monday at 5:00 p.m. with a 7:00 p.m. scripture service at St. Margaret's Catholic Church in Kimball, SD.  Burial will be 11:00 a.m. (MT), Thursday, May 28, 2026 at the Black Hills National Cemetery at Sturgis, SD.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to the St. Margaret's Altar Society, PO Box 137, Kimball, SD 57355