Betty Townsend of Parsons died May 20, 2019 at home from complications of a stroke suffered on May 7. Her husband and sons were at her side.
Betty was born in Cottonwood Falls, Kansas in the 1940s at her uncle Marion’s gas station. Her mother died right after giving birth to Betty. Betty was raised from birth by her Uncle Marion C. and Aunt Laura Alice (Ayers) Danby of Wichita. Betty told her husband, Warren, many times that she was looking forward to meeting her birth Mother.
Betty grew up in Wichita and graduated from North High School in 1958. She attended Phillips University 2 years and graduated from the University of Kansas with a Bachelors’ Degree in Microbiology in 1962. She graduated from Wichita State University in 1969 with a Bachelors’ Degree in French and German Education. In 1979 she earned a Masters’ Degree in Special Education from Wichita State University.
Betty and Warren C. Townsend were married June 23, 1962 at the Fairview Christian Church in Wichita where they first met.
She was a perpetual student, a lifelong learner and self-taught Bible scholar and teacher. She volunteered at the Youth Crisis Center and played bridge three to four times weekly. She loved to cook. She was busy keeping her husband “in check” and had traveled extensively in the U.S.A., Europe and the Holy Land.
Her professional working career included being a medical technologist in Wichita, Neodesha and Independence, a German teacher, and a Special Education Teacher in public schools in Derby, Spearville, Wellington, and Belle Plaine. She was employed at the Kansas State Hospital and Training Centers in Winfield, Topeka and Parsons and finally as an employee of Class L.T.D. in Parsons, retiring in 2008. She enjoyed teaching and giving assistance to those in need of her caring.
In her early years Betty was a Girl Scout from 1948 to 1955. She worked with Boy Scouts from 1979 to 1992. She was a lifetime member of the National Education Association. Locally she was affiliated with Center Bethel Church, the First Christian Church, the First Presbyterian Church, and Mt. Zion Church of rural Cherryvale.
She is survived by her husband, Warren, of the home; two sons, Nelson Townsend and wife Melanie and their children Baird and Ky of Olathe, KS: Morgen Townsend and wife Shasta and their twins, a daughter Lydia and a son Chester of Rock Springs, WY; brother Robert “Bob” Danby and wife Chong of Las Vegas, NV; sister Mary Ann (Danby) Hesford and husband Ernie of Pulaski, NY; nieces Sabrina Hesford Pennellville, NY; Anna Hesford of Lacona, NY; and Margaret (Hesford) Blodgett and husband Tim of Orwell, NY; half-sisters Nancy (Danby) Forney and husband Bill of Lubbock, TX; Ila Kay (Danby) Crawford of Tucson, AZ; brother-in-law Eddie Townsend and wife Karen of Alamogordo, NM; nephew Paul Townsend and wife Lori of Cheyenne, WY; niece Brenda (Townsend) McMillan of Cheyenne, WY; niece Connie (Townsend) Jonson and husband Lane of Carpenter, WY; nephew Eric Townsend of Cheyenne, WY; sister-in-law Mary Jane Townsend of Wichita; nephews Brent Townsend of Wichita, and Zach Townsend and wife Leigh of Littleton, CO; and many other family members and many friends.
Preceding her in death were her beloved uncle and aunt who raised her (Marion and Laura Alice Ayers Danby, her mother and father Noel and Anna Mae (Abraham) Danby, her step-mother Gladys Danby, a brother-in-law Loyd G. Townsend, sister-in-law Helen (Griffith) Townsend, and sister-in-law Jane (Oberg) Townsend.
The family will have a private burial at the Ross Cemetery near Neodesha. A Memorial Service is being planned for Sunday, July 7, 2019 at 3:00 P.M. at the First Christian Church of Parsons.
The Carson-Wall Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. Memorials are suggested to the four churches mentioned earlier and may be left at or sent to the funeral home at Box 942, Parsons, KS 67357. Online messages may be left at www.wallfuneralservices.com.
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