Betty Jo Hanson passed away peacefully Thursday morning, May 29, 2025. She was 96. She was the baby of her family, the only girl, and she gave her brothers a run for their money. Born in Olive Hill, KY on September 30, 1928 she was the daughter of Irene Ramey Bailey and Clay Bailey and a sister to her older brothers, Glendal and Thomas (Tommy). She was a daddy's girl and a grandpa's girl. She loved her maternal grandpa so very much and even during the hard times of the great depression, he would bring her ribbons for her hair when he visited. She was always athletic, mostly obsessed with playing any game with a ball and participated in any impromptu baseball game in her small town's empty field, liked to fry up potatoes on sun heated rocks outside in the summer with her lifelong friend, Betty Jane, didn't care much for dolls, loved to swing on the grape vines in the woods with her friends, regrettably never learned to swim, loved to help put on plays for the neighbors, hated to really work in the family victory garden and spent hours in the surrounding woods near her home daydreaming, accompanied by one of her formally stray dogs that she had "taken in". She never stopped loving bologna sandwiches and as an adult, "pie and coffee" was her favorite breakfast. She enjoyed telling these stories about her childhood and all of them could have been in a movie like the time she fell in a well at age three, and her mom saved her, pulling her out by the "hair of her head!" And make no doubt: she was a redhead in every sense of the cliché, with hair, as she would say, "the color of a copper penny." She even got used to strangers exclaiming how beautiful her hair was and it became her identity. In high school, she was a star basketball player during WWII when girls often took the stage as most of the boys were off to war and she remained an avid fan of the University of Kentucky "Wildcats". Later, she declined an offer to play with the "All- American Redheads", a girls' professional basketball team that existed from 1936-1986. At age 19, she married William (Bill) Barker in 1948. They were married until his death in 1968. She found love once again in 1973 and was married to Fergus Hanson until his death in 1994. Betty was quite the entertaining character, a talented seamstress and a keen observer of life, giving out no nonsense advice when asked. Betty was a generous soul but not a hugger, loved her space, rarely gushed about anything but we all knew she loved deeply and was deeply loved.

She is survived by her two children, Billie Barker Bradford (husband John) and David Barker (wife Julie) plus granddaughters Tracey Bradford Shell (husband Chad) and Jamie Bradford Turner (husband Eric) and five great- grandchildren: Landon Shell, Carson Shell, Jack Turner, Ben Turner and Maggie Turner. In addition, she is survived by step- daughter Corliss West (husband Quinn) and step-grandchildren Andrew Booth, Taylor Booth, Ryan West, Scott Gibbs, Jenny Brown, Katie Buchanon and Christy Bates

.She would often jokingly say she liked dogs more than people but I suspect it wasn't entirely a joke. And so, if you feel led to give, in lieu of flowers, please donate to your favorite animal shelter. Betty lived most of her life within the borders of Kentucky. She didn't have a big life, but she had a good life. And she didn't want a formal funeral. Instead, she requested just a small family gathering at dinner, recalling some of our favorite stories and memories of her. A date has yet to be determined at this time. We will miss her terribly.