Our honored Mother, Grandmother and Great-Grandmother, Betty Sue (Barnes) Chapman, passed away aged 90 at Junction City Retirement and Assisted Living on May 24, 2024.
Betty was born February 3, 1934, to Robert Andrew and Susan Oolah (Crowson) Barnes in Fort Smith, Sebastian County, Arkansas. She was the ninth of twelve children. Betty graduated from Harrisburg High School in 1952, attended Eugene Beauty School for two years, and started her first job as a hairdresser in Roseburg, Oregon in 1953.
She met the love of her life when her younger brother, Paul, introduced her to Edward (Ted) Chapman at a skating rink in Roseburg in 1954. Ted and Betty were married on July 1, 1955, and celebrated 62 years of marriage before Ted’s passing in 2017.
While living in Roseburg in April 1957, the couple was blessed with their first child, a son Benjamin. The family soon after relocated to Corvallis, Oregon so that Ted could attend Oregon State College. The couple welcomed their two daughters, Wendy in 1961 and Leah in 1962, while Betty worked as a hairdresser to support the family.
After college graduation in 1962, the family settled permanently in Philomath, Oregon. For 13 years Betty worked for hairdressing establishments in Corvallis. She eventually opened Betty’s Salon of Beauty in Philomath and spent 50 happy years raising children and running her business out of her home.
Betty was preceded in death by her parents, husband Ted, seven older brothers and one older sister, and her great-grandson Rodney. Betty is survived by her son Benjamin and wife Pam of Valley Village, CA; daughter Wendy and husband Tom Phelps of Philomath (Joy and Jarrod Hatem, Melissa and Eric Skaugset, Kate Phelps and Erin O’Leary, Sam and Katie Phelps, and Kernan Phelps); daughter, Leah Chapman of Eugene, Oregon (Marcus and Andre’ Post, Eligio and Haley Pastrana, Ruby Velasquez, and Kristin and Craig Collett); former son-in-law Don Post of Eugene; and 13 great-grandchildren. She is also survived by her three younger brothers Paul, Joseph, and Mark Barnes.
The family is grateful for the compassionate caregivers who took care of Betty in her final years, Alycia, Jayda, Rhonda and the staff of Brighton Hospice in Eugene. Betty chose to donate her body to the Western University of Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine.
A memorial service is scheduled for Sunday July 21, 2024, at 11:30 a.m. at Junction City Seventh-day Adventist Church, 645 W. 3rd Ave, Junction City, Oregon. A luncheon will follow the service.