<!-- FH = Dickinson Funeral Home 608-784-0135 -->Betty Lou (Athnos) SmithBetty Lou (Athnos) Smith, age 71 of Onalaska, WI, passed away Wednesday, March 14, 2012 at Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center.She was born in La Crosse on August 31, 1940 to Oliver and Mabel (Wolden) Schultz. Betty resided in Onalaska until the ninth grade. She graduated from Oconto Falls High School in Oconto Falls, WI. Betty received her AA from WWTI, and later her B.S. degree in psychology from Austin Peay University in Clarksville, TN.Betty enjoyed bringing hope, courage and help to those people afflicted with the disease of alcoholism and other addictions. Betty went out of her way to make a person feel welcome and wanted. She loved life, her higher power, her family and adored her children. Betty celebrated over forty years of sobriety and loved to share how she worked and lived by AA principles; being honest with self, give and share with others and live by the Golden Rule.Betty is survived by her three children, Trifon Lee, Thomas Lee (Carol) and Regina Lynn Athnos; adopted son, Marty P. Stevens-Balzer; five grandsons, Aaron, Alec, Nicholas, Travis and James; a great-grandson, Hunter Lee; four sisters, Anita (Darwin) Beck, Almira Gantka, Doris Enking and Pat Schultz; two brothers, Irwin (Ida) Brown and Robert Brown; many nieces and nephews whom she loved and cared about very much; her AA friends and families; and a dear friend, Scott.She was preceded in death by her husband, Richard Smith; parents; and a brother, William Brown.Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday at Bethel Lutheran Church, 1931 Loomis St., La Crosse. The Rev. Lisa Shank will officiate, and burial will be at 10 a.m. Friday in Onalaska City Cemetery. Family and friends may call from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, at Dickinson Family Funeral Home, 809 Gillette St., La Crosse, and again from 10 a.m. to time of service Thursday at the church.Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.dickinsonfuneralhomes.com.