BETTY BLANCHE JACOBS BROWN
Monday November 26, 1934 – Tuesday, August 1, 2023

Betty Blanche Jacobs Brown was born to Mona Clare (Clevenger) and Ora Jacobs at their home in Montana, KS. She died with family by her side in her home in Springfield, Missouri. She is survived by her husband of 68 years, Earl Mac Brown, her four children, Terri, Laurie, Chip and Dudley. She was the grandmother of 6 and great grandmother of three. She was the last surviving sibling to Walter Lee, Neva Lorene, Jacqueline Carol, and Mary Lee.

In her own words, she had "Hazel eyes, brown hair, fair skin, and I was 5'6" tall before I started getting shorter!"

She'd written down many memories of her childhood in Montana, KS:
"My first memory was seeing my sister Mary Lee for the first time.  They had placed her in my baby buggy.  I was in awe!   I also remember pretending I could read the newspaper when I couldn't. --   I remember visiting school the year before I was to start the first grade. All 8 grades were in one room with one teacher and for a few years I was the only one in my grade. -- We children had our chores to do, but we never had to work like our parents did when they were our age.  We had it much easier.  We pumped water for the cows and sometimes did the milking.  This was by hand, sitting on a tipsy stool, hoping the cow didn't kick or slap you with her tail. We could put "kickers" on them to keep them from kicking us. -- We gathered eggs being careful that there wasn't a snake in the nest.  Once, when I was gathering eggs at my grandma Mollie's place, I reached into the nest without looking and there was a snake.  Scared me half to death.  I don't know how far I ran before I stopped! -- We learned to feed, kill, scald, pick, singe, cut up and cook the chickens.  We ate lots of fried chicken in the summer. -- We carried in buckets of water from the pump well for drinking.  The bucket sat on the cabinet with a long-handled dipper in it.  You were not to drink out of the dipper. -- We carried in buckets of coal for heating and argued about whose turn it was, and we helped in the garden… hoeing, picking off potato bugs, etc."

"Wash Day was a full day.  First, we got water from the cistern with a bucket on a rope.  This took a little flip of the wrist to tip the bucket to fill.  Then we would "draw" it up and dump it in the boiler.  When it was full, two people carried it to either the wood or kerosene (we called it coal oil) stove to heat and then to the washing machine and tried to dump it in without scalding ourselves.  The cistern was filled by rainwater so it was soft.  When it had rained enough to wash the roof off good, we would turn a lever to direct the water from the roof to the cistern.  We filled the rinse tub with cold water.  We used home-made lye soap when we had it.  We washed the white loads first and ended with dark colors such as overalls, and Dad's coal covered clothes.  We had to get out the old wash board for the heavier stains.  We had a wringer that was 2 rollers that we cranked by hand to run the clothes through.  We fed it with one hand and cranked with the other.  That was our "spin cycle".  We put "bluing" in our rinse water.  I think that was to make the white whiter and brighten the colors.  Then after we wiped the line good, they were all hung on the line to dry.  In the winter they often frozen dry.  On wash day mom often put on a pot of beans to cook.  There was no permanent press.  Mom cooked some starch, which was diluted with water for some of the clothes.  Most things had to be ironed so those were sprinkled, rolled and stacked in the basket ready to start ironing the next day.  Sometimes we started it on the same day.  We sprinkled them by dipping our hands in a pan of water and flipping it on the clothes and anyone that walked by.  Later someone came out with a little sprinkler that fit in the top of a bottle.  One reward was nice smelling sheets that had been dried outside."

Betty attended Labette County Community High School in Altamont, KS, where she made life-long friends. "Our teen years were filled with school activities, Cheerleading, Marching Band (I was a baton twirler), School parties, and "running around" looking for something to do.  Very few kids had cars or extra money."

She graduated high school in 1952 and went on to graduate from Bethany School of Nursing, Kansas City, KS, in 1955. She passed the Kansas State Boards that same year and became a registered nurse.

The bulk of her working career was in nursing, but she had a few other jobs as well: "During high school I had a brief job as a skate girl at a roller rink at Altamont, KS. I worked two summers in "The Mug", a root beer stand, owned by my sister, Neva and her husband, Joe Denton in Bartlesville, OK. I was a Methodist Camp Nurse at Baldwin, KS for 2 weeks one summer of nurse's training.  As a nurse I worked at McAllen Municipal Hospital in McAllen, TX, in general duty and newborn nursery, 1955-56; Mercy Hospital, Parsons, KS, 1956, general duty; Kansas state Training School for retarded children in Parsons KS 1956-57 as an evening supervisor; and Kings Daughters Hospital, Greenville, Mississippi 1957 in Pediatrics and Surgery.  At St. John's Hospital, in Springfield, Mo., 1958-1991, I worked in many areas including Newborn Nursery, Women's Surgical, Emergency Room, General Cardiac, Cardiac Intensive, Cardiac Cath. lab., Educational Resources, Nursing Director of Respiratory floor and Medical Intensive, and General duty charge nurse."

She married Earl Mac Brown on July 18, 1955, at the courthouse in Neosho, Mo. "Mac and I married while I was still in nursing school…  It was against the rules to get married without going through channels and jumping through hoops…" so, the two of them decided to keep it a secret until she was out of school and went to some "Creative" lengths to keep their wedding from being published in their respective hometown newspapers.

While Mac was in the Air Force, they lived primarily in Texas and Mississippi, where Terri and Laurie were born.  After Mac completed his military service they moved to Springfield, Missouri, and by 1960 they had added two boys to the family, Chip and Dudley.

The 1960's and 1970's were busy years, but Betty's source of joy and entertainment was her family. "Much of my adult fun was enjoying my 2nd childhood with our children, the joys of my life, – listening to their conversations, watching their minds work, water skiing, canoeing, camping, hiking, biking, riding horses, going to their games and activities, and taking pictures."

In their retirement Mac and Betty were able to travel extensively across the US. They also spent a lot of their new freedom connecting with their children, grandchildren and friends.  "My senior years have added a 3rd childhood with grandchildren, more time with all the family, and the opportunity travel around in this beautiful country of ours."

In Betty's later years, her short-term memory gave her trouble, and she could be frustrated by that. But she could still visit for hours about great memories with family and friends. She loved to laugh about the funny things that happen in life. She was always excited to hear news from the children and grandchildren. Her love for Mac and for her family was abundantly evident.

She was a devoted, loving wife and mother, and she possessed a healthy dose of individuality. She could listen actively, think for herself and allow others to think for themselves. She helped countless people who were experiencing health crisis.

Betty finished life well. She lived, laughed, loved and was loved by those fortunate enough to have known her well.

We will miss her dearly.

Funeral Service will be at 9:30 AM on Thursday, August 10, 2023 at Gorman-Scharpf Funeral Home. Burial will follow in Missouri Veterans Cemetery.