Betty Jean Mathews

Betty Jean Mathews, 73, of Mount Pleasant, died at 2:33 a.m. on Monday, March 22, 2010 at her home following the lengthy struggle with Alzheimer's disease. Visitation will be from noon to 8 p.m. Friday, at Olson-Powell Memorial Chapel in Mount Pleasant, with family receiving friends from 6 to 8 p.m. that evening. A memorial service for Mrs. Mathews will be at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at Olson-Powell Memorial Chapel with the Chaplain David Plooster officiating. The body has been cremated and inurnment will be at a later date at Forest Home Cemetery. Memorials have been established for the Great River Hospice and the First Congregational Church of Mount Pleasant. Betty was born March 12, 1937, in southeast rural Henry County, Iowa. She was the daughter of James "Clarence" and Florence Avis (Trueblood) Woodsmall. She graduated from Mount Pleasant High School in 1955. On May 19, 1963, she married Ralph Lee Mathews in Mount Pleasant. Mrs. Mathews worked for the local phone company in Mount Pleasant, starting in 1955 with Mount Pleasant Telephone and retiring in 1992 from GTE Telephone Company, serving as customer service to supervisor positions. Immediately following her retirement from the telephone company, she started working for Shull Chiropractic in Mount Pleasant as a secretary. She retired from that position in 1994. She was a long standing member of the Mount Pleasant Chapter of Sweet Adelines. Betty was an original member of the Mount Pleasant Women's Bowling Association. She was an active member for 48 years, and served as a team captain for the first 45. She was instrumental in organizing the Communication Workers of America for the local telephone company. Betty was also a member of the Iowa Archaeological Society and the First Congregational Church in Mount Pleasant. She enjoyed being an amateur photographer, music in all forms, leading sing-a-longs for the elderly and disabled, hunting for arrowheads and Indian artifacts, watching and riding in hot air balloons, dancing with her husband, camping, watching the Hawkeyes and spending time with family. Survivors include her husband; a daughter, Lori A. Mathews-Sammons and her husband Tim; a son, Dr. Michael S. Mathews and his wife Angela, all of Mount Pleasant; four grandchildren, Tiffany and Crystal Sammons, and Alec and Michaela Mathews, all of Mount Pleasant; and one brother, Wendell "Barney" Woodsmall and his wife Alice, also of Mount Pleasant. Several cousins, nieces and nephews also survive. She was preceded in death by her parents, one brother and one sister.