Betty Lou Strong, 88

Funeral services for Betty Lou (Walrath) Strong, 88, of Gainesville, will be held at 2 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025, in the Clinkingbeard Funeral Home chapel in Gainesville. Officiating will be Bruce Deweese. A visitation will be held from 1 p.m. to service time. Following the service, there will be a potluck-style dinner at Mammoth Assembly of God Church.

Betty died peacefully at Baxter Health Hospital in Mountain Home, Arkansas, on Jan. 5, 2025. She was born Nov. 9, 1936, in Mammoth, to Richard and Opal (Rhamy) Walrath. Betty loved to garden and work with her blackberries. She also did beautiful embroidery.

She is survived by her daughter, Teresa (Smith) Hunt and husband Gary of Billings; one granddaughter, Amanda Estes and husband Tom of Springfield; one great-grandson, Raven Eaton of Marshfield; two brothers: St. John and William Walrath; three sisters: Ethel West, Pauline Strong and Frances Loftis; along with many nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Richard and Opal Walrath; her first husband, R.K. Smith; her second husband, Johnnie Strong; three brothers: Frank, Bill, and Charley Walrath; and one sister, Helen Head.

Memorial contributions may be made to Mammoth Cemetery. Arrangements are under the direction of Clinkingbeard Funeral Home, Gainesville.