Published: July 11, 2009 10:25 pm         

Betty Jean Sowers Garrard

BLOOMINGDALE — Betty Jean Sowers Garrard, 91, of Bloomingdale, died Saturday, July 11, 2009. She was a lifelong resident of Bloomingdale. She was born July 28, 1917, in Judson, to Chester Guy Sowers and Nola Marie Payton Sowers Staggs. She was the stepdaughter of William R. Staggs, who raised Betty and her siblings. Betty worked at Turkey Run Inn in Marshall, Ind., to help her family with expenses while she was in high school. She was a 1935 graduate of Bloomingdale High School. She married Wilfred L. Garrard in October 1935.

Survivors include two daughters, Winifred (Burt) Waite of Evansville, and Sue (Joe) Woody of Bloomingdale; one brother, Billy Don (Arlene) Staggs of Rockville; six grandchildren; eight great-grandchildren; and three great-great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband; brother, Jim; sister, Veneta; and grandson, David G. Waite. She was a member of Linebarger Chapel Methodist Church in West Union, Ind. During her lifetime she was devoted to her family, she loved each and every one of them.

Graveside services are 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 15, 2009, at Bloomingdale Friends Cemetery, with Pastor Leon Myers officiating. Burial will follow in Bloomingdale Friends Cemetery. Care and arrangements entrusted to Gooch Funeral Home in Rockville.