Betty Jean Newman lived a life of love and light.  She brightened every room she ever entered, lit up the lives of all who were lucky enough to have known her and has now added her brilliance to the shining kingdom of Heaven, where she arrived on July 18, 2023.

That date of departure came just over 90 years after her arrival, as she was born on April 5, 1933, to Turner and Lucy English. An only child for only a short while, Betty Jean soon became the eldest daughter in a family full of siblings, including three sisters still with us today – Shirley, Phyllis and Debby – as well as two brothers: Jimmie Dale, whose battle with cancer ended in 2013, and Jerry Wayne, who passed away as a toddler in 1937. Betty is reunited with them at long last, and with her parents, who also preceded her into eternity.

Her most longed-for reunion, though, has now taken place with her beloved husband, Lee Tyler Newman. Betty and Lee were an inseparable pair for over 66 years of marriage, beginning with a double wedding ceremony at Fort Hood in Texas that they shared with another young couple on July 14, 1951. Betty was only 18 at the time, and her mother was initially opposed to her getting married so soon after graduating. "I thought that after high school you'd be going to work, and making you some money," Lucy said to her determined daughter, even while she was packing her bags for the 900-mile journey ahead of her. With tears in her eyes, Betty replied, "Mama, I can make money any time. But there will never be another Lee!" And that was that. Lucy helped Betty get ready for the wedding, and off she went into adulthood.

Betty Jean came back home to Henderson County with her new husband and helped make him a success, using her whip-smart mind to keep the books for Lee's construction business. And, true to her word to her mother, she made plenty of money on her own by tapping into her skills as a seamstress. Sewing to make clothes from scratch, making alterations to customers' outfits and patching up anything too worn or torn – the only thing quicker than her smile was her needle and thread.

She passed along her love of sewing to her daughter, Jeana Le, named after both Betty Jean and Lee. They were blessed by her birth on September 25, 1957, and then again almost exactly seven years later, when their son Samuel Tyler was born on September 24, 1964. Both Jeana and Sam were loved fiercely by their parents, and they returned that love in kind – both were there at Betty's bedside, holding hands and praying with her as she ran into the waiting arms of her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Betty was an incredible Memaw (or Mammaw, depending on which side of the family you're talking to). She and Lee have six grandchildren: Jeana and her husband Glenn Thomas had Joshua, Lucas and Daniel, while Sam and his wife Tina had Emily, Jonathan and Wesley. From those six, sixteen great-grandchildren have been born (or soon will be) to further extend their legacy! Noah, Jarie, Abby, Claire, Juliette, Carter, Calvin, Cooper, Colson and Chance on the Thomas side, and Nate, Laura Kate, Jay, Josie and Jack on the Newman side – with Bodie on the way!

She loved to cook, and had a holiday season tradition of making far too much Christmas candy together with Jeana. She loved to sing, and would praise Jesus alongside Sam, Wesley and her granddaughter-in-law Mary (for whom she also served as a bridesmaid in 2011, at the age of 77!). She built hundreds of lasting friendships over her decades spent living in Zion, through the community of faithful believers who worshiped God with her at Zion Baptist Church (just a literal stone's throw away from her home), and added many more to the number of those who knew and loved her even in just her final eight years, spent living in the Wesley Village community in Wilmore.

Betty Jean Newman was luminous. And her light has not gone out now – it lives on in her family and her friends. In everyone she ever interacted with, as no one could have left her presence without feeling a little lighter. A little brighter. It lives on forever in Heaven, where all of those who trust in Jesus will one day get to see her again. She'll be there waiting, smiling, ready to hem the ends of everybody's glowing white robes. (Or whatever the fashion really is there.)

A celebration of Betty Jean's life will take place at Zion Baptist Church on Saturday, July 22, 2023, beginning at 10:00 a.m. (CDT).  Burial will be at Roselawn Memorial Gardens.

Visitation will take place at Rudy-Rowland Funeral Home on Friday, July 21, 2023, from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. (CDT), followed by an open time for sharing memories and stories from Betty's life. Visitation will also be available at Zion Baptist in the hour leading up to the beginning of the service there on Saturday.

Betty Jean loved flowers and bought far too many of them for herself (and was gifted with even more by Lee) all throughout her life. If you'd like to purchase flowers in her memory, her family would be happy to receive them – but consider buying some for yourself too, as Betty would have done. Further sympathy can be expressed by placing an order for yourself for any item that catches your eye on QVC, as Betty almost single-handedly kept cable TV home shopping alive as a viable business model up through the introduction of the Internet, and for years beyond. (There's a Christmas in July sale going on right now, you know.)

Online condolences may be made at www.rudyrowland.com.