Betty June Cary Brownfield, 84, widely believed to be an angel on Earth, died October 5, 2022 of a heart attack after living with dementia for many years. She was born in her grandparents’ house during the Depression in Norborne, Missouri on October 19, 1937, where her parents Daniel Emmett Cary and Anna Mildred Katz and brother Joe also lived. It was here where she learned how one could get by on very little–Mom often talked about how her family gardened their entire backyard and rented a neighbor’s yard as well to grow enough to can and eat all year. She learned sewing from her mother and embroidering from her grandmother, who would check the back of her work on the hoop to see if her stitches were as nice on the back as they were on the front–if not, she ripped it out and started over.
The family moved to follow work and eventually settled in the Kansas City area, where Betty graduated from William Chrisman High School in 1955. She introduced her best friend Pat Miller to her brother Joe and he made the smart move to marry her; through another friend Betty met Oscar Brownfield, a handsome yet barely employed young man from Pilot Grove and found her love match. Father was skeptical and took Oscar for a ride in the car with a shotgun in the back seat to make sure he knew what was expected of him with taking care of his daughter. They married in 1959, Oscar joined the Army to support his family, and they subsequently were deployed to Italy for the adventure of a lifetime–she spoke often of love letters written on the beach sand and great games of bowling–and she could always speak a little Italian on command. Their first child was born there, and after discharge the family moved back to Missouri and had four more kids whom Mom kept fed and mostly safe from excursions to the roof (!) and even rescued one from choking on a quarter.
Betty kept the books for Brownfield Company and the family farm and made the household move from Sedalia to Green Ridge as gracefully as possible for a city girl transplanted to the country. Her fried chicken and apple pies were legendary, and her candymaking knew no bounds, from peanut brittle and taffy to divinity and fudge during the holidays. Another skill she possessed was thoughtful gift-giving, especially toys at Christmas; she just knew what kids liked. She got a job at Green Ridge R-8 School as a secretary where she could be every kid’s mom during the day; patient and kind, she sat and talked empathetically with naughty kids waiting to visit the principal and helped everyone who needed her in the office.
Betty and Oscar were married until his death in 1984, and she was left with two kids still at home to raise and a mid-five-figure farm and business bankruptcy to settle by herself, which she entirely paid off by working two and three jobs at a time and selling the family house. She regrouped in Sedalia and worked at Striped College and Heber Hunt Elementary School as well as Walmart where she worked evenings and weekends. At 62 she retired and kept busy walking the sidewalks of Sedalia and keeping up with friends at weekly lunches, but she couldn’t stay away from kids for long and worked as a school crossing guard in the sun, snow, and rain until age and a broken arm slowed her down. She had lived alone for decades but there were many precious friends, kind neighbors, and other angels looking after her as forgetfulness turned into dementia; she eventually moved to Tennessee to live with family in 2013. There, “Betty Momma” charmed everyone who met her with her sweetness and light. Frequently she longed for home and attempted one famous “jailbreak” in which she threw her walker down the deck stairs, jammed it into the front seat of her car, and wound her way to the next town until she stopped at a store; the sheriff’s deputy that was nervously following a reported drunk driver was relieved to find a little old lady in pajamas and fuzzy pink slippers asking for directions to Kansas. Her decline was slow but certain, and this year was particularly difficult for her, but she remained a kind and tender soul to the last.
Things Betty enjoyed doing besides being with family and friends included sewing, embroidering tea towels, coin collecting, eating giant gobs of ice cream, nibbling cookies with artful precision, joyfully singing off-key, and telling everyone that she loved them. She was immensely proud of her family history and could trace her genealogy back to the 1600s.
Surviving are her children Mark Brownfield and husband Robin Chaves of Oregon, Byron Brownfield and wife Theresa of Colorado, Marcia Brownfield of Tennessee, Leanna Brownfield and wife Jennifer Norton of Tennessee, and Bentley Brownfield of USA and Europe; grandchildren Brittany Bolyard and husband Michael, Mallory Brownfield, and Zachary Brownfield; great-grandchildren Alexa and Estella Bolyard; and nieces, nephews, extended family and many friends she made on her long journey.
Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, October 14, 2022 at McLaughlin Funeral Chapel. Burial will be in Crown Hill Cemetery. Visitation will be from 10 a.m. until service time Friday at the funeral chapel. The family suggests memorial donations be made to Sedalia Animal Shelter or a charity of the donor’s choice, in care of McLaughlin Funeral Chapel.