Surrounded by her loving family, 89-year-old Elizabeth J. (Betty Jo) Schaefer (née Gutzwiller) of Batesville returned home to be with our Lord and Savior on Monday, August 1.st at St. Andrew’s Health Campus. Born October 2, 1932 in Batesville, she was the daughter of Frank N. and Frances Gutzwiller. She married Alfred (Junior) Schaefer on October 25, 1952 at St. Louis Catholic Church in Batesville, Indiana and he predeceased her on March 19, 2013 with her son, Greg on November 4, 2021.
Betty Jo worked as a seamstress and later managed the laundry service at Margaret Mary Community Hospital for many years before retiring. She was a life member of St. Louis Catholic Church.
Known for her kindness and generosity, Betty Jo enjoyed spending time with her family. She was a housewife who was always doing something. She crocheted many rugs and tea towels for her family and friends, or sewed and mended clothes for her children or made clothes for the girls’ dolls. A large family vegetable garden was planted by Junior and she would can and freeze the produce for later use (if they had not been shared with neighbors or other family members or friends). She could make the sweetest jellies or grape juice from the grapes that came from the vine just outside the back door.
One of her family passions was fishing, and she could fillet caught fish faster than her husband or brothers. She often went to a favorite local pond with her sister and brother-in-law Hilda and Bess Bartling, or on a Sunday getaway with the family in tow.
Another of his passions was baking. Whenever one of the kids needed a bake sale item for school or scouts, she baked an awesome apple pie or a batch of her famous chocolate chip cookies. Her cookies were the most sought after item at family gatherings and by neighbors and friends.
She will be sadly missed by her daughters Debra (Hoagy) Wright and Jo Ann (Alan) Butt of Batesville; Kaye (Jed) Darby of Greensburg; Diane (Tom) Smith of Osgood and daughter-in-law, Jackie Schaefer of Batesville. She is also survived by five grandchildren, Zach (Nikki) Butt, Emily Butt (Chris Landrum), Nick (Danielle) Butt, Christopher Powell and Jessica (Brandon) Mize, and great-grandchildren, Raelyn Stuart; Austin, Jeremy, Lexi and Jaelyn Ebinger; Lexi, Eli and Livi Butt; Trent Stuart; Hailey Shaw and Emery Mize and sisters-in-law Marion Gutzwiller, Ruth Schaefer and Rosemary Conrad and brother-in-law Lester Schaefer. Besides her parents, her husband and her son, she was also predeceased by her sisters Hilda Bartling and Frances Rose Gutzwiller and her brothers Alfred, Martin, Frank T., Donald and Harold Gutzwiller.
Visitation will be held Monday, August 8 from 4 to 7 p.m. at Weigel Funeral Home. Funeral services will be held on Tuesday, August 9 at 10 a.m. at St. Louis Church with Reverend Stan Pondo officiating and interment will follow in the church cemetery. The family requests memorials from Margaret Mary Health Foundation Hospice or the Sylvester J. Bartling Scholarship Fund within the Ripley County Community Foundation. For online condolences, go to www.weigelfh.com.
