Betty Joe (Crawford) McConnell (1930 - 2016)

Born 10 Jul 1930 in Laurens, South Carolina, United States

Ancestors

Wife of Harris Oliver McConnell Sr. — married 4 Sep 1948 in Laurens, South Carolina, United States

Died 17 Nov 2016 at age 86 in Dallas, Gaston, North Carolina, United States

Biography

When Betty Joe Crawford was born on July 10, 1930, in Laurens, South Carolina, her father, Thomas, was 45, and her mother, Florence, was 41. She married Harris Oliver "Rooster" McConnell on September 4, 1948, in Laurens, South Carolina.^[1] She died on November 17, 2016, in Dallas, North Carolina, at the age of 86, and was buried in Bessemer City, North Carolina.^[2]

Obituary:^[3]
BESSEMER CITY - Betty C. McConnell, 86, passed away on Nov. 17, 2016, at the Robin Johnson Hospice House, Dallas.

She was born July 10, 1930, in Laurens County, S.C., daughter of Thomas Crawford and Florence Davenport Crawford.

Betty Jo was a woman of many interests, sewing, cooking, volunteering with the local fire department and singing. She loved gospel music and in her younger years, along with her beloved husband, Rooster, added her sweet soprano voice to a gospel quartet. Ultimately everything in her life centered around her family and it was family that was the single most important thing in her life.

That family was very large, diverse and inclusive. It didn't matter whether you were a ""blood relative"" or not, when you sat at her table you were her family.

We her children and grandchildren remember holiday meals that were large buffets that included everyone's favorites. Green bean casserole for this one, pie for that one and so on until everyone was sure ""She made that especially for me.""

She as a woman of great faith, a believer in the Golden Rule and she opened her heart and home to many throughout the years.

She valued peace and harmony among her family members and wished for those values to extend to the entire world.

Her kindness was most evident in her final days. Despite her weakness and illness, she communicated her well-wishes to everyone that came to her bedside. She was in death, the way she lived her life, loving, generous, focused on the good in people and wishing for everyone to treat one another as family. Family was indeed her greatest achievement and she gave it her all.

Entombment: Westview Gardens Mausoleum, Bessemer City.

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by husband, Harris O. (Rooster) McConnell Sr.; brothers, Norman, Adger and Hoyt Crawford; sisters, Sue Woods, Anzo Boggs, Dorcas and Elizabeth Crawford.

Funeral Home: Greene Funeral Service, Westside Chapel

BURIAL^[4]
Westview Gardens
Bessemer City, Gaston County, North Carolina

Sources

1. ↑ South Carolina, County Marriages, 1910-1990; cert 282647
2. ↑ https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/36407284/person/262100573275/facts
3. ↑ Published in Gaston Gazette on Nov. 19, 2016
4. ↑ https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/13498494

• Year: 1940; Census Place: Waterloo, Laurens, South Carolina; Roll: m-t0627-03821; Page: 7A; Enumeration District: 30-40

• U.S. Phone and Address Directories, 1993-2002; Betty McConnell, Residence Years 1997, Zip Code 28086

• Vermont, Marriage Records, 1909-2008; child: Constance Eugenia McConnell