Betty Jo Brown

Betty Jo Brown, 81, of West Cherry Lane, Carlsbad, New Mexico, passed away Sunday, April 21, 2013 at Goodlife Assisted Living. Visitation will be 2:00 PM - 7:00 PM, Wednesday, April 24, 2013 at Denton-Wood Funeral Home, and family will receive friends from 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM. Funeral services are scheduled for Thursday, April 25, 2013, 10:00 AM, at First United Methodist Church with Rev. Dan Boyd of First United Methodist Church and Chaplain Andy Harris of Home Care Connection officiating. Interment will follow in Carlsbad Cemetery, Carlsbad, New Mexico. Denton-Wood Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements. Betty Jo Brown began her life in a house in Lawrence County, Tennessee. Her mother was a homemaker and her father worked at a Columbia cab stand and she fondly remembered riding with him on his calls, standing up next to him in the front seat. Betty graduated high school in Columbia and started her nursing training at St. Thomas School of Nursing in Nashville, Tennessee. She finished up her nursing degree at Madison College in Middle, Tennessee. While at Madison, Betty met her husband-to-be, Gwen Brown. As Madison was a seventh-day Adventist College, her husband used to jest that "he married the only Southern Baptist on the whole campus". Betty was proud of her family's musical background, going to the Grand Ole Opry to listen to the Speer family, to whom she was related. While working in Nashville, Betty would often do private duty care for country and western stars who entered the hospital for 'exhaustion'; most notably was Hank Williams. She and Gwen married in a small chapel on the Madison campus in 1953. Gwen was already in the military, so Betty became a military wife. Betty Jo worked as a nurse for 10 years prior to coming to Carlsbad, NM. Once in Carlsbad, she became very active in the community, serving on many boards and working with many organizations. Betty served with the Red Cross as a volunteer for many years and at one time was a relief director. She was a member of the Women's Club, and worked as a volunteer at the Memorial Hospital, placed where the original Lakeview home is now. Betty was on the board of the local hospital and it was there that she helped select the organization HCA to become the first modern hospital in Eddy County. Betty and Gwen traveled extensively, both in a motor home and on many trips to Europe, Canada and Australia. Upon her husband's death, Betty sold their home and moved to River Bend Retirement Community. In 2012, Betty moved to the Good Life Assisted living until her passing. She was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Gwen Brown; and sister, Wynell Ritchie. Survivors are her daughters: Brenda K. Jones and husband, Steve of Carlsbad, New Mexico; Deborah L. Gaffney of Albuquerque, New Mexico; grandchildren: Christopher Jones and wife, Crystal of Carlsbad, NM, Ashley Bock and husband, Cory of Carlsbad, NM, Kaitlyn Jones of Carlsbad, NM, Brent Gaffney of Anchorage, Alaska, Ryan Gaffney and wife, Becky of Amarillo, Texas; great-grandchildren: Steven Hunter Bock, Noah Gaffney, Grayson Jones and Abigail Bock; brother, A.C. Jennings and wife, Shirley of Columbia, Tennessee and numerous nieces and nephews. Pallbearers will be Ryan Gaffney, Chris Jones, Steve Jones, Cory Bock, Brent Gaffney and Brian Deringer. Memorial contributions may be made to Home Care Connection - Hospice Fund, 513 S. Canal St., Carlsbad, New Mexico 88220. Condolences may be expressed at dentonwood.com.