Bettye Sue Edmonds

Bettye Sue Edmonds was born January 20, 1941, in Kuttawa, Kentucky to Willie and Cora Mae Edmonds To that union was born Freddie Lee Edmonds and Bettye Sue Edmonds. On March 14, 2023, Bettye was called home to be with the Lord. Bettye is preceded in death by her parents Willie "Big John" Edmonds and Cora Mae "Jay" Edmonds.
Bettye was always very close to her brother and sister-in-law Freddie Lee and Barbara Edmonds. She loved her family. Before her illness, they would often talk and laugh about times when they were young, family and current events. After her illness, when she was unable to speak, her brother and sister-in-law would call just so that she could hear their voices and for her to know that she was being lifted in prayer and that they loved her. The Thanksgiving holiday was Betty's favorite because she knew that she would travel to be with family and friends and that made her very happy.
Bettye or "Sue" as she was fondly called by family and friends graduated in 1959 from Lincoln High School in Evansville, Indiana . While in school, she had an outgoing personality and was one of the popular ones among her classmates. She was a cheerleader. She went to the dances which were also called " Socials" after the games on Fridays . On Saturdays, Bettye Sue also competed on a televised dance contest. Among her dance partners were Emory Redding, Wilbur Hathaway and Jerry Haskins. It has been told that she always won those contests. Sunday was always designated for attending church for all the teenagers during her time.
Bettye joined St James Church at an early age under the leadership of Rev. Link. She moved to New York where she spent most of her adult life and worked as a bartender and a home care aide. In 2003, she decided that she wanted to move closer to family so she than relocated to Illinois to live with her daughter Carmelita . She joined Second Baptist Church under the leadership of Rev. Mark A. Dennis. Bettye has always been a warrior or one would say a "More than Conqueror" type person . Through her trials, she continued to know that "God Is Good All the Time" . She was able to thrive through the removal of a brain tumor. Although she was limited in her abilities, she continued to press on and strived to bring joy to others .
Miss Bettye or Mama Bettye as she was called by the church family and friends was always recognized as a giver without any respecter of persons. She found joy in blessing anyone who was homeless and others that were in her life. She would often inform her daughter to make sure that she had single dollar bills on hand so she could give a child at least $1 after church each Sunday. She also took the time to read the monthly birthday list from our church communicator to make sure that she had cards to bless people with. Miss Bettye cared about people so any opportunity to bless them, she did it.. When someone would assist her out of the car at church and help her in her wheelchair to get seated in her designated seat, she felt led to bless them . Although people would say NO, she wouldn't accept a NO. That became her ministry of blessing people. She also had a welcoming demeanor at church. She made new people feel welcome. It became clear that is why Minister Sharon Weeks automatically added Miss Bettye to the Missions Ministry. Although she was unable to serve because of illness, she became an honorary member just because of who she was. Miss Bettye also became the biggest cheerleader for the Music Ministry , often shouting out to her daughter " Sing Carmelita" when she was leading a song.. She didn't discriminate though she yelled out loud to whoever was leading a song.... Shouting "Sing". It always gave the congregation a chuckle to hear her shouting that out loud.
Bettye loved watching sports on tv. She was a true Cubs fan and loved all the other sports as well. Before her illness, Her favorite things to do was to talk to her brother, sister-in-law and friends about players on different teams . However if you called her in the midst of a game, she did not want to talk to anyone (smile).. She also loved her Caregiver, Nancy who gave her the best care of 18 years that she could ask for with unconditional love. Nancy would come in the house and greet her by saying " Hi Mom" or "Hi, My Queen" and leave the house by saying " I Love You Mom". That would bring a smile to her. Because Bettye was a sweet hog, yes she loved sweets and people who knew her made sure she received her favorites like ( chocolate brownies, sweet potato pie, pound cake , ice cream ) and you couldn't forget her caramels ... The clerks at both CVS and Walgreens always reminded her daughter to not forget to get caramels for mom at the checkout line. Deacon Craig and Deloris Watson also contributed to her caramel craving. (smile).
Bettye was organized and intentional on things she did. She had a weekly schedule of talking to certain people on the phone. On Mondays, she would call Eunice Osborne, Tuesday she would call Rose Campbell and Thursday she would call Dorothy Haskins just to see how they were doing and catch up on all that was going on in Evansville. Also, her longtime friends Bert Payne and Stanley Young would also call her to keep her updated on the happenings in Evansville and sports. Minister Jackie Frazier would call her daily to check in on her and to pray for her. Mom loved celebrating birthdays with her loved ones and friends. She also loved the ME TV channel 23 that included all of the tv shows she grew up with like Leave it to Beaver , Perry Mason , In the Heat of the Night and all of the cowboy Western shows.. She was also an avid watcher of Family Feud. In addition, each Sunday morning before her health began to decline, she watched the Rev. Willie Wilson show religiously at 6:30 am . She loved the music on that show. She enjoyed the livestream services of her church on Sundays but would've loved to be able to be back at church again. She loved her Pastor -Rev Michael CR Nabors and first Lady Sidney Nabors. First Lady Sidney always gave her an African American calendar for Christmas. Miss Bettye felt the love of all that surrounded and embraced her.
Bettye Sue leaves to mourn her passing, her selfless and devoted daughter Carmelita Marie Edmonds fondly called Tweety , a dear and loving brother and sister-in-law Freddie Lee and Barbara Jean Edmonds of Denver, Colorado , nieces Lori Mack and Lorna Edmonds and nephew Freddie Lee II of Denver, Colorado , grand nieces and nephews, cousins , her caring and compassionate Caregiver of 18 years - Nancy Zambonino and her family , and a host of church family, friends and acquaintances that loved her too.
God Is Good All The Time ! That was one of the phrases that Bettye would say during her illness!!
Psalms 46:1
" God is our Refuge and Strength , A very present help in the time of trouble "