Betty Jane (Kabat) (Peplinski) McInally

Betty Jane (Kabat) (Peplinski) McInally passed away peacefully in her sleep on Thursday, March 27, 2025 at the age of 99. Betty was a well-known resident of the North Branch community where she raised her eleven children.
Betty was born in Cadillac on June 17, 1925 to the late John and Albena Kabat (Kabatek). She lived in Cadillac with her parents and her younger brother Andrew, until her mother passed away from cancer when Betty was just 6 1/2 years old.  At the time, Betty went to live with her Aunt Sally, Uncle Jim and ten cousins on their farm in Cedar, Michigan.
At seventeen years of age, Betty moved to Detroit to be a nanny. Towards the end of WWII, Betty was 18 making her old enough to work in the Packard factory where engines were made for bombers and submarines.  You can find Betty's name on a Rosie the Riveter plaque in the Yankee Air Museum in Ypsilanti, because she was one of the women honored for helping in the war effort.

While living in Detroit, Betty was asked on a date by her future husband, Stanley Peplinski, when he came to visit his sister who was Betty's roommate. Betty previously knew of Stanley since they both had lived in Cedar, not far away from each other.  They dated, fell in love, married and had their first child, Eugene.
Stanley worked with Merle Chambers in Detroit, until the company moved to North Branch. The family then moved to Mill Street in North Branch in 1949. Later, Stanley became the plant manager for Chaso-Royco.  In 1951, they moved to Huron Street where Betty was still living in 2020, until she moved to the Assisted Living quarters of the Stonegate Health Campus in Lapeer.
Stanley passed away in 1964 when their youngest, Linda, was only 5 months old. Three years later, it became necessary for Betty to be employed, so she became a bus driver for North Branch Area Schools, taking on many field trips in addition to daily runs. Betty was a little hesitant at first, but she soon took much pleasure in getting  the school children to their destinations.  Betty continued to enjoy her job for twenty,  accident-free years before retiring in 1988.
In 1969, Betty married Verne McInally, who was also a North Branch resident. Betty and Verne had nine happy years together before he passed away in1978.
Betty enjoyed bowling, playing bingo, dancing the polka and whenever and wherever possible, playing cards. Boy did she love playing euchre and she could always impress others with her skills.  Poker games and casino trips were also a fun treat Betty shared with family.
Betty would especially look forward to visits with her loving brother, Andrew, his sweet wife Mae and their daughter, Loretta, who was a special niece, along with Loretta's husband Howard.
At home, Betty enjoyed flower gardening, visits from the family and holding babies.  And there were always babies to be held. In addition to her eleven children, Betty dearly loved her 35 grandchildren, 52 great-grandchildren, five great-great grandchildren.
Betty was a devoted member of SS Peter and Paul Catholic Church in North Branch for 75 years. As a youth, Betty attended Holy Rosary Catholic School in Cedar, where she made her First Communion. Betty's faith brought her great comfort and she prayed daily for her entire family.
Betty is survived by her six sons, Eugene (Susie), Benedict, Gregory, Dennis, Thomas and Stanley (Michelle) and her five daughters, Donna (Daniel) Smith, Carol Bretz, Susie Locklin, Marilyn (Gary) Bulzan and Linda (Henry ) Schank. Others left to miss Betty are her 94 grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren, 43 nieces and nephews, friends from the North Branch Senior Center, bus driving friends and the list goes on.
Preceding Betty in death were her parents, husband Stanley, brother Andrew, husband Verne, two grandchildren, Adam Andrew Peplinski and Jillian Sarah Bulzan and her great-grandchild, Katherine Ann Schank. Also passed are all of her brothers-and sisters-in law, ten nieces and nephews, and nine of the ten cousins she lived  with as a child.
In lieu of flowers, the family would like you to have a Mass said for Betty.
The family will be present for visitation on Sunday, March 30, 2025, 2:00 P.M.-8:00 P.M. at Blackburn Chapel-Martin Funeral Home with the Rosary at 7:00 P.M. On Monday, March 31, 2025, visitation will be 10:00 A.M.-11:00 A.M. at SS Peter and Paul Catholic Church in North Branch with Mass of Christian Burial at 11:00 A.M. Rev. Sama Muma will be officiating. Betty will be laid to rest next to her husband, Stanley in the Holy Rosary Church Cemetery in Cedar, MI, where they both grew up.
You may share a online condolence to the family at www.blackburnchapel.com
Arrangements by Blackburn Chapel-Martin Funeral Home

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