Betty Jo Ball left this world on November 11, 2021 at Lake Cumberland Regional Medical Center, she was 84. Betty Jo was a member of Pleasant Rock Baptist Church in Smithtown, Kentucky, and in her later years enjoyed visiting many churches in the area. We know she was welcomed into heaven by her savior, Jesus Christ, on Thursday night and a crowd of open arms. Maybe her second hug was with Don L., her loving husband, who left us just a few years ago. Perhaps it was with her dad, Elmer, who passed away 67 years ago on Betty Jo’s 17th birthday. It could have been her mother, Gertie, who Betty Jo so lovely cared for in her final years. Her boys, Grant and Jerry, certainly ran to their mother, and got their first hugs from mom in 59 and 54 years. And there is no doubt that Aimee and baby Grant were there eagerly awaiting a cheek rub from mamaw, which all her grandkids will cherish and miss for the rest of their lives.
Left with decades of fond and colorful memories are her children: Gregory Stewart Hughes of Strunk, Kentucky, Jeffery Wayne Hughes of Winder, Georgia, Tona Leslie Chitwood (Steve) of Whitley City, Kentucky, Teresa Idaera Bruce (Roy) of Andersonville, Tennessee, Michael Shane Ball of Frankfort, Kentucky, and Alex Shawn Ball of Somerset, Kentucky. Her siblings: Harold Swain (Jeanette) of Oxford, Ohio, and Carol Bowman of Sydney, Ohio. Her grandchildren: Jennifer, Kinsley, Nikki, Ashley, Autumn, Cody, Alyson, Josh, Joey; her great grandchildren: Morgan, Madyson, Meredith, Kayla, Ryan, Andrew, Vaeya, Kambree, Marleigh, Kyndrix, Ronan, Greyson, Legend, Jack, Avery, Kallen, Kylee, Tenlee, Hunter; and her great-great grandchild: Elena, as well as a lifetime of friends and chosen family including Dwayne.
God definitely broke the mold when Betty Jo was born to the late Elmer Swain and Gertie Coffey Swain on February 7, 1937 in Whitley City, Kentucky. She was a feisty, unique, fun-loving, and endlessly caring woman who devoted her life to the betterment of her family and loved ones. During her 84 years, she gave birth to 6 children, Greg, Jeff, Tona, Grant, Teresa, and Jerry, and helped raised Shane and Shawn, and was blessed with many, many grandchildren. She would have given the world to them if she could; she loved, supported, and cheered them all until her final days.
Betty Jo worked many jobs in her life, including stints at Scotty’s, the shirt factory, and Kroger, but by far her favorite “job” was babysitter and caregiver. Even as a young mother living in Washington and Oregon she found a calling for caring for the children around her. She was a trusted caregiver, who shaped the formative years of so many. Countless kids can recall their early years on Davis Hill with Betty Jo and Don L. where they played hard, learned to cook (or at least make snow cream), can vegetables, and maybe even learned a life lesson or two – but most of all they learned what love was and could be. Aside from spending time with her family, going to church, and babysitting, Betty Jo enjoyed quilting, raising gardens, canning, and cooking, watching Kentucky basketball; and of course, being the boss. She loved to offer you something to drink or eat, and then promptly telling you to ‘well, get up and get it!’
A few short sentences could never fully capture the life and spirit of Betty Jo Ball. Like so many she lived a life full of trial and tribulations but more importantly she lived a life filled with love. She was of course a loving wife, mother, grandmother, and friend but that just scratches the surface of what she truly was. She was a provider, a teacher, a jokester, a creator, a beacon. She was the world to so many around her; an embodiment of pure love and with her death a hole in the hearts of so many exists and will never be filled. Betty Jo will always live on in the hearts and minds of her children, her grandchildren, and every single life she touched through the lessons she taught and the love she gave. Because she loved and was loved so deeply she will never be forgotten and she will never really be gone. To the world she was a mother, but to her family she was the world.
Funeral services were held Monday, November 15, 2021 at the Hickman Strunk Funeral Home in Whitley City, Kentucky with Bro. Danny Staley and Bro. Tim Corder officiating, and Jeanette Sears playing piano singing hymns. Burial followed in the Stearns Cemetery. The family would like to extend a special thank you to Hickman Strunk Funeral Home and Rose Mortuary Broadway for their help with service.