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Betty Lou Johnson, age 80, of Fort Wayne, Indiana, died at 2:50 A.M. on Wednesday, August 28, 2013, at Arbor Glen Retirement Center, Fort Wayne, Indiana, where she was a resident after an illness of two years. Ms. Johnson was a 1951 graduate of Edgerton High School and traveled the country for a few years playing professional exhibition basketball with the Texas Cowgirls and then joined her sister, Patricia, playing with the Hazel Walkers Arkansas Travelers. She later enrolled in Morehead State University, where she was a member of the NCAA Debate Team, of which she was the #1 debater. She graduated from Morehead State with a Bachelor’s Degree in Physical Education and Biology. She then received her Master’s Degree from Ball State University and also did post graduate work at Berkley San Jose. Her teaching and coaching career included Hagerstown and Yorktown, Indiana, Hillsdale, Michigan, Carmel, California, the University of Arizona and Sahuaro High School in Tucson. Her Sahuaro tennis team captured the state championship. She traveled widely in her motor home for many years, became an avid golfer and demonstrated considerable talent in painting landscapes as well as tending to her beloved dogs.
The daughter of Joe and Polly (Stephens) Johnson, she was born in Camden, Michigan, on January 13, 1933, the last of their twelve children.
Survivors include her sister, Patricia, sisters-in-law, Rosemary Johnson and Ann Johnson, and numerous loving and caring nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents; four sisters, Dorothy Salsbury, Arizona Lapham, Rosemary Sprow Banning and Mary Johnson; and six brothers, Dewey, Golden, Lemuel, Roy, Ezra and Gene.
Betty will be sorely missed by all those lives she touched , especially her sister, sisters-in-law, her close friends in many states and her several generations of nephews and nieces who rallied around her and surrounded her with love and care. Visitation will be held on Friday, August 30, 2013, from 4:00-7:00 P.M. in the Krill Funeral Home, Edgerton, Ohio. Services will be held on Saturday, August 31, 2013, at 11:00 A.M. in the Krill Funeral Home, Edgerton, with Pastor R.L. Barnett officiating. Interment will follow in Maple Grove Cemetery, Edgerton.
While flowers are always appreciated, Betty requested that contributions be made to Heartland Hospice or to Cancer Service of Northeast Indiana.