Betty Jo Chapman's Obituary
Betty Jo Chapman, 81, of Fredonia, Kansas died on June 4, 2026 after a short illness.
Betty Jo was born on May 6, 1945 in Columbia, Missouri to Sam E. Rees and Mary Drane Rees.
She attended Hickman High School in Columbia, Missouri and graduated as valedictorian of her class in 1962. She attended the University of Missouri in Columbia, studying chemistry and botany. On February 12, 1966, she married Donald Chapman and thereafter moved with him to California while he served in the Marine Corps.
In 1970, the couple moved back to reside in southwest Missouri. During their time there, Betty Jo completed her BSc in Education from Southwest Missouri State University in Springfield in 1972 and gave birth to her daughter, Mary Jo. In the succeeding years, she taught junior high school math and science in southwest Missouri. The couple moved to Fredonia, Kansas in 1977, and Betty Jo began a long career as customer service representative for Kustom Signals in Chanute, Kansas, where she worked until her retirement in 2015 and got to know (by phone) many police chiefs all over the country. As a Kustom employee, she had the opportunity
to road test the company’s police radar guns, causing confusion and some degree of amusement to truckers when they discovered who was causing their radar detectors to chirp. In her retirement, she was able to devote herself to cherished hobbies. She and her late husband had discovered muzzleloading as an enjoyable and educational experience in the 1980s, and Betty Jo developed into a proficient marksperson, especially delighting in surprising those who thought women couldn’t shoot. At the time of her death, she was president of the Chetopa
Gun Club and treasurer of the Kansas Muzzleloading Association.
After her husband’s death in 2001, she also traveled with her sister, Janie Rees-Miller, to visit historic sites, national parks, and dinosaur museums on road trips within the US. In alternate years, they traveled abroad to countries in Europe and the Middle East, bringing back photographs and stories with which they regaled family and friends. The sisters proudly wore their matching t-shirts with their photo together and the caption “Venerable Sisters conquer …the
wilderness, the West, the world”. Indeed, through her life, Betty Jo was not shy about combatting and conquering obstacles against women who were incredibly smart, especially those in traditionally masculine fields and activities. Having said that, she was also a devoted wife and mother, supporting her husband in his own academic and professional endeavors and as a widow, opening her home to adult progeny when they needed refuge and a place to live.
Betty Jo was preceded in death by her parents, Sam and Mary Rees, and her husband, Don Chapman. Survivors include her sister, Janie Rees-Miller of Columbia, Missouri; daughter Mary Jo Chapman of Fredonia, Kansas; two granddaughters, Billie Jo Sechler and Rachelle Humphrey, and three great grandchildren all of Fredonia, Kansas. All who knew her will deeply miss her intelligence and competence, her friendliness and cynical humor, and her feistiness.
Two memorial services will be held: the first will take place in Columbia, Missouri on
Saturday June 20 at a time and place yet to be determined. The second memorial service, a celebration of life, will take place in Fredonia, Kansas at the Countryside Funeral Home on July 15 at 2:00 PM. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in memory of Betty Jo to the youth or scholarship fund of the Kansas Muzzleloading Association; for further details, contact Rose Burns, the secretary of the organization at [email protected].
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