Betty Jo Anderson

Anderson, Betty Jo
89, of Phoenix, died on May 13, 2011, in Phoenix from complications of Alzheimer's. Mrs. Anderson was born Oct. 3, 1921, in Vernon, Texas, to Joseph and Josephine Campbell. During the Depression, her father and brother, Jim, had come out West and were working in mines in central and southern Arizona while she and her sister, Ione, lived with various aunts in Missouri, Montana and Minnesota. She followed Jim to Flagstaff's Arizona State Teachers College in the late 1930s and graduated from Arizona State College in 1943. While at ASC, she met Fred Anderson and they were married March 11, 1944, in Oakland, Calif., where he was completing preparation to go to Italy and fight in World War II. When he returned from the war in 1946, they moved back to Flagstaff. In 1953, Mrs. Anderson went to work for the Coconino County Board of Supervisors, eventually becoming the clerk to the board. She was elected County School Superintendent in 1972 and served in that position until her retirement in 1984. Mrs. Anderson loved Flagstaff and its four seasons. She and her daughter, Nancy, were huge "Price is Right" fans who traveled to Los Angeles to sit in the audience with high hopes of hearing the famous "come on down." She traveled extensively and one memorable trip was a visit to Alaska with her brother and other family members in rented motorhomes, highlighted by a stint in Denali National Park. Mrs. Anderson was a longtime member of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary parish in Flagstaff and her trip to the Vatican in 1987 was a very special moment of her life. She moved to Phoenix in 1993 to care for her oldest daughter, Karen, and remained there after Karen's death in 1996. She was a resident of The Stratford and over the last few months was under the care of Hospice of Arizona. Mrs. Anderson is survived by her son, Michael (Ann) of Flagstaff; brother Jim of Kernville, Calif.; sisters Ione Brodigan of Dallas, Norma Ann Snyder of Salina, Kan., and JoAnne (Dan) Childress of Zephyr, Texas; four grandchildren; 10 great-grandchildren; and three great-great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband, Fred, and daughters Karen Carroll, Nancy Hance and Kathryn Anderson. Services were private. The family suggests contributions in her memory to the hospice of your choice. Norvel Owens Mortuary is handling arrangements. Condolences can be sent to the family online at www.norvelowensmortuary.com