Betty Jo Phillips Payne

OZARK…Mrs. Betty Jo Phillips Payne, a resident of Ozark, went home to be with our Lord, after a long battle with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. She passed away late Friday evening, June 23, 2023, at home surrounded by family and loved ones. She was 74.

            In keeping with her wishes, a private memorial service will be held at a later date. Fuqua Bankston Funeral Home of Ozark is in charge of arrangements.

            Mrs. Betty Jo Payne was born on May 10, 1949, in Troy, Alabama and was in the first graduating class of G.W. Long High School in 1968. She was beautiful inside and out, she loved to read, laugh, and play with her cats. Mrs. Payne loved her children and spending time with her family and friends. In earlier years, she loved to sit and listen to the stories her family members would tell about their lives. Mrs. Payne enjoyed riding around and taking the scenic route home. Her children and grandchildren were her world, and she will be sorely missed. She is preceded in death by her father, William Phillips; mother, Evelyn Payne; stepfather, Kenneth Payne; grandson, Arlan Daniel Duke; sister, Catherine Thompson; two brothers-in-law, Harold Thompson and Wesley Williams.

            Surviving relatives include her son, Rhett Bennett (Christine), New Brockton; two daughters, Kelly Bennett, Tifton, Georgia and Tara Payne, Ozark; two sisters, Glenda Williams, Dothan and Dorothy White (George), Midland City; grandchildren, Chris Stoner (Collin), Atlanta, Georgia and Owen Bennett, New Brockton; nieces, nephews, cousins, and all her fur babies; special paternal aunt, Ruth Drinkard, Phenix City, Alabama.