Della Jo Galyon Hamrick was born on September 16, 1930 in Knoxville Tennessee to Roy and Ora Dell Knight Galyon at their home near Old Sevierville Pike. Known by many as Jo, she attended Anderson Elementary where her fourth-grade teacher encouraged her to accept Jesus as her Savior. She joined Sevier Heights Baptist Church; a church started in her grandmother Dora Knight’s home. A missionary to China who spoke at the church inspired her to surrender her life to missions. She graduated from Young High in 1948 and attended Carson Newman College where she met Audley Galbraith Hamrick in Volunteer Band, a group of students dedicated to missions locally and globally. After receiving her bachelor’s degree in English, they were married at Sevier Heights on May 24th, 1953.
They finished their degrees at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and began their ministry as home missionaries at Alamo New Mexico on the Navajo reservation 32 miles to the nearest paved road. Over the years they served in Zuni, Dulce, Laguna Acoma, Budville, Albuquerque and Gallup New Mexico with a time at Camp’s Creek Baptist Church in North Carolina. Over her lifetime Della Jo gave birth to five children, and made a home of every parsonage, house, and gas station they lived in.
After retirement they moved back to Knoxville, where they became active members of Sevier Heights. In 2009 Jo suffered a life changing stroke. Many loving and competent caregivers in Knoxville, and later in Bartlesville Oklahoma loved her and were loved by her. Jo was a living witness of Christ to the end. Her daughter and son in law, Katrina and Chris provided her with loving care until her death.
Della Jo was preceded in death by her parents, Roy and Ora Dell Galyon; husband, Audley Hamrick; brother, Carl Galyon; sisters, Baunita Galyon, Kathleen Young, and Lorraine Hodges.
She is survived by son, Mark (Robin); daughter, Cynthia Leavelle (Tommy); son, Daniel (Ruthanne); daughter, Beth Swan (Joel), and daughter, Katrina Eash (Christopher). She also has grandchildren, Sarah Glenn (John), Richard, Robert (Charlotte), Stephen Leavelle, Jonathan (Katie), Paul, Anna Rose Hamrick, James Swan, and Evangeline Eash. She also had three great-grandchildren: Liam, Oliver and Laurel Glenn.
Della Jo’s faith to follow Christ wherever He led and genuinely to love everyone she met will be her eternal legacy. The family will receive friends Wednesday, March 31, 2021 in the Parlors of Berry Funeral Home from 6:00pm-9:00pm. A Funeral Service will be held in the Chapel of Berry Funeral Home, 3704 Chapman Hwy, Knoxville, Thursday, April 1, 2021 at 1:00pm, officiated by Rev. Hollie Miller. Family and friends will go in procession to Zion Hill Baptist Church Cemetery, 206 Zion Hill Church Road, Sevierville, for an Interment Service. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering towards the NAMB, P.O. Box 116543, Atlanta, GA 30368-6543. The family invites friends to share fond memories and sign the online guestbook at www.berryfuneralhome.com
