Submitted by Cheney Witt Funeral Home
Betty Jo Clayton, age 91, a resident of Fort Scott, Kan, died Thursday, Sept. 21, 2017, at the University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kan.
She was born June 12, 1926, in Drumwright, Okla., the daughter of Perry and Ethel Coffman Johnson. She married Lawrence Arnold. They later divorced. She married Ellsworth Clayton in 1965. He preceded her in death in 1980. Betty enjoyed crocheting, especially clothes hangers and giving them away as Christmas gifts, cooking, boating, fishing and traveling. She was a past member of Eagle Lodge #264. She loved her dogs Smokey and Zack. Her greatest joy was spending time with her kids, grandkids and great grandkids. She loved her many friends and neighbors.
Survivors include two sons, Dale Arnold and wife Loretta, Fort Scott, and Donald Arnold and wife Carol, Springfield, Mo.; two daughters-in-law, Vicky Jo Arnold and Joyce Metcalf, both of Fort Scott; two brothers, Ralph Johnson, Fort Scott, and Terry Joe Johnson, Iola, Kan.; two sisters, Mary Mefford, Fort Scott, and Jean Decker, Emporia, Kan.; 10 grandchildren; 16 great grandchildren; and 3 great-great grandchildren. Besides her husband Ellsworth, she was preceded in death by a son, Ray Lee Arnold; four brothers, Paul, Clyde, Gilbert and Perry Johnson; and two sisters, Shirley Bolin and Patricia Dawson.
There was cremation. Pastor Ben Heffernan will conduct memorial services at 10 a.m. Monday, October 2, at the Cheney Witt Chapel. Private family burial will follow in the Bronson Cemetery. The family will receive friends from 2 until 4 p.m. Sunday afternoon at the Chapel. Memorials are suggested to Care to Share or Lee’s Paws and Claws and may be left in care of the Cheney Witt Chapel, P.O. Box 347, 201 S. Main, Fort Scott, KS 66701. Words of remembrance may be submitted to the online guestbook at cheneywitt.com.