Betty Ann Spears

The only child of Paul L. and Irene McDonald Adams, Betty was born on July 31, 1922, in Sedalia, Missouri, where her father was employed by the Missouri and Pacific Railroad. During the Depression years, she and her parents moved back to her father’s hometown of Chattanooga and lived next to her grandparents, Robert B. and Annie Adams.

“Betty Ann” as she was known during her early years, graduated from Tyner High School in 1940. At age 27, Betty married the love of her life, a soft spoken country boy, John Jackson “Jack” Spears, from Marion County, Tennessee. The young couple settled in Chattanooga and for the next 40 years, centered the rest of their lives around family, friends, and church.

During the early 1960s, Betty worked by Jack’s side to establish Spears Hardware on Highway 58 and operated the neighborhood store for more than 25 years. She and Jack also shared a love for finding, restoring, and selling antiques. For many years, they attended local antique auctions and sold their treasures at antique shows throughout the Southeast. During retirement, they loved outings with their Triple L (Live Longer and Love It) Club at Oakwood Baptist Church, where Betty was a member for more than 60 years. At the time of her death, she was a member of Ridgedale Baptist Church.

Betty was preceded in death by her parents, her beloved husband, Jack, and sister-in-law, Evelyn Long. In death, she leaves behind the people she loved more than life itself: her only daughter, Susan Sawyer, and son-in-law, Ron, of Chattanooga, and her cherished granddaughter, Ashleigh Petet, and her husband, Randy, of Ringgold. Other survivors include her sister-in-law, Winnie Scates, Chattanooga; her cousin and husband, Peggy and Rex Ford, of The Villages, Florida; two nieces, Peggy (Larry) McDonald, Knoxville; and Carol (Paul) Barnett, Chattanooga; and nephew, David Long of Woodstock, Ga.

Betty lived a simple life that was rich in many ways, but it was the only way she lived her life – with her sweet, loving spirit reflecting the love of her Lord – that we will always

remember.

Funeral services will be held 11:30 a.m. Monday, August 15 at the North Chapel of Chattanooga Funeral Home with Dr. Bill Owens officiating. Burial will be at Hamilton Memorial Gardens. The family will receive friends from 2 until 4 p.m. Sunday and from 10:30-11:30 a.m. Monday at the funeral home.

Arrangements are by Chattanooga Funeral Home Crematory and Florist, North Chapel, 5401 Hwy 153, Hixson, TN 37343. Share your memories on line at www.chattanooganorthchapel.com.