Velta Jean Bennett Compton

Velta Jean Bennett Compton passed away on January 15, 2017. She was born in Metcalfe County, but lived most of her life in Louisville. An alumnus of Lindsey Wilson College and Western Kentucky University, she began her teaching career as an emergency teacher, during WWII, at the age of seventeen. Her first position was teaching in a one room schoolhouse, all eight grades. She later taught first grade in Bullitt County and ended her thirty-three year career teaching first and third grades at JCPS. Jean was an excellent teacher and hundreds upon hundreds of people can read and write today because they sat in her classroom. Her proudest professional honor came when a former student named her a Kentucky Colonel.

Just two years ago, her first of three children's books was published under her pen name, Jean Bennett Compton. What Shall I Be? won a National Literary Habitat Award. She was living proof that it's never too late to accomplish a dream.

Jean loved her family beyond measure. Her parents, Edd and Georgia (Pedigo) Bennett, and her infant brother, Kenton, preceded her in death. She is survived by her husband, Billy Compton; her daughter, Giovanna Godby (Jeff); and grandson, Max Godby. Jean was a loving mother, wife and the best grandmother in the world. She is also survived by her sister, Shelby Reece, three nieces and their children.

No doubt, Jean has seen the face of Jesus and is dancing with her mother, daddy and brother in heaven. That's cause for celebration. A private Home Going service will be held at a later date.