Mrs. Betty Jean Watts
January 11, 1925 - August 15, 2010
Mrs. Betty Jean Watts In memory of Betty Jean Oakley, Betty Jean Poulin, and Betty Jean Watts. Her sons called her Mom, Betsy, Watts-See-Totts’see, Betty Jean, Betts and sometimes Betty. Her nieces and nephews called her Aunt Bobby, Bobby, Betty Boop and Aunt Betty. Her sisters and brothers called her Sis, little Sis and Betts. Her high school mates called her Betty and Bette mostly but, she had other interesting nicknames like, Sis, Betts, Little Bets, Little Betty, Oak, Oakley, Oakie, Betsy, Buckshot and others.
In her 1945 Belvi, this caption reads next to her picture. “Still we can ask from day to day where does she find so much to say?” As a child, Betty Jean was fascinated with Abraham Lincoln. He was her celebrity. She collected every news article ever written. Later in life, she donated her collection of Lincoln to the Boone County Historical Museum, where these documents reside.
In 1943 it was World War II, so a group of nine high school girls formed a club. Betty Jean Oakley was “proud” to be a member of the “Faithful Club” in support of men in and at the the theater of WWII. The “Faithful Club” marked it’s 50 year anniversary in 1993.
After High School, Betty went to work for the next 30 years working in support of Pediatrics. For most of those years, Betty worked closely along side her dear sister, Luella Oakley Poulton, and their dear friends Lida and Fern.
In 1971, Betty found the ‘love of her life’ and married Leland F. Watts. A few years later, she retired from Pediatrics. Her family remembers her happiest working in her garden, canning vegetables, making pies, enjoying her family and even happier to be a grandmother.
Betty Jean was preceded in death by her parents, Judge Frank Alonzo Oakley in 1955, Frances Ann (Baylander) Oakley in 1961; brothers and sisters, Virgil Howard Oakley in 1968, William Charles Oakley, in 1973, Luella Eileen Oakley Poulton in 1978, Marguerite Lorraine Oakley Freek in 2009, and Gary Roger Oakley in 1999; her nephew Leo Poulin in 2001, her husband, Leland F. Watts in 1984 and her youngest son, Martin James Poulin in 2003.
Betty Jean is survived by her two sons, Edward and William Poulin, her sister-in-law, Lucie Morehead Oakley, her many nieces and nephews, Frank R. Oakley, Mary Kjellgren Oakley Shepherd, George A. Freek, Mary Lynn Freek-Farsi, Joan F. Oakley Olson, Warren Poulton, Susan Freek Oaks, and James Poulton; her four grandchildren, Martin J. Poulin, Jr., Michelle Poulin, Adam Gibson and Forest T. Poulin.
In 1995, Betty Jean started a short, but long path into Alzheimer’s. “Is it to live? In the presence of those you love and have no memory of them.”
Funeral Information
Memorial service 11:00 a.m., Thursday, August 19, 2010 in Buck-Wheeler-Hyland Funeral Home 218 W. Hurlbut Avenue. Inurnment following in Belvidere Cemetery. Memorial visitation from 10:00 a.m. to service time Thursday.
DirectionsVisitation: Funeral Home Service: Funeral Home Light a Special Candle Send a Heart of Condolence View Memorial and Sign Guestbook Printer Friendly Version
|
Belvidere, IL 61008 