Betty Jean Brooks French

BETTY JEAN BROOKS FRENCH, age 87, of Chestnut Hill, TN passed away at her home on August 17, 2016. She is survived by her children Mike (Ruby) French, Deb (Darrell) Newman, Pat Ford, Barry (Lori) French, Shirley (Larry) Vaughn, and Tim (Lisa) French; twelve grandchildren; and three great-granddaughters. She is welcomed home by her Heavenly Father; her husband, Shirley W. French, to whom she was married for 63 years prior to his death in 2013; her parents, Chester and Doris Brooks; her son-in-law, Dan Ford; and her sister, Virginia Ruth Brooks, who passed away as an infant. Betty was an astute businesswoman who attended business college and held several bookkeeping jobs before eventually taking over and successfully running her father’s trucking business, employing drivers who hauled goods for Bush Brothers. She also worked for several years in the Jefferson County school system, at both Chestnut Hill School and Maury. She was an active member of Chestnut Hill United Methodist Church and its United Methodist Women group. She twice held the office of Worthy Matron in the Martha Dandridge Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star. She served two terms as a Jefferson County Commissioner and also served her community as an active member of the Chestnut Hill Ruritan Club. In spite of all of her community activities, Betty’s world centered on her family; and her most prized role was that of wife, mother, and grandmother. She raised six children during a time when her husband was a truck driver and often away from home; and she handled all household responsibilities from replacing a drum belt on a clothes dryer to shuttling the children to all of their church, sports, and music activities. She could call her children home from anywhere in the community with her shrill whistle. When her first grandchild was born, Betty retired from the school system and became a professional grandmother, a job at which she excelled. Later, when her husband traveled with his job as a field representative, she often traveled with him, and she packed up as many grandchildren as possible to take with them on those trips. Most of her grandchildren learned to swim in various pools in Florida while traveling with her. Betty served as caregiver for her parents and eventually her husband at the end of their lives, refusing to require any of them to be removed from their home surroundings for nursing care. She was a matriarch, a nurturer, and she made the best apple butter and fried chicken (among other things) known to man. She was everything to her family. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations to Chestnut Hill United Methodist Church (2416 Chestnut Hill Church Road, Chestnut Hill, Tennessee 37725) would be appreciated. The family would like to extend special thanks to Stella McGaha, who assisted in providing excellent personal care to both Betty and her husband. Funeral services Friday, August 19, 2016, 11:00am at the Chestnut Hill United Methodist Church with Rev. John Wilson and Rev. John Clark officiating. Interment services will follow in the church cemetery. Family will receive friends Thursday evening from 5:00 to 7:00pm at Farrar Funeral Home, Dandridge. ARRANGMENTS BY FARRAR FUNERAL HOME, DANDRIDGE