Betty Jo Carruthers
Join us in celebrating Betty Jo—please share your stories and photos, and help spread the word about this page!
Betty Jo Carruthers, 93, died on Friday, May 27, 2022.
She was born to Louise Coon Armstrong and Matthew Edwin Armstrong in Vale, North Carolina on January 7, 1929. She graduated from Winthrop College and came to Kingsport to work at Eastman Kodak. There she met Joseph Stutz Carruthers III. They married in 1950 and raised a family on Stuart Drive in Kingsport.
Betty Jo (BJ) was a joyful wife, mother, artist, and Christian. She was a charter member of St. Timothy's Episcopal Church, where she taught Sunday School, read scripture during Sunday services, and was fully involved in the life of the church. She designed and painted altar cloths, banners, and other artwork to adorn the sanctuary and building. She was also dedicated to the Kingsport Arts Guild. She was an accomplished artist who won numerous awards for her paintings in oil, acrylic and collage, and was a member of the Tennessee Watercolor Society.
She was preceded in death by her husband of 52 years, Joseph Stutz Carruthers III. She is survived by her two brothers, four children (Joseph Stutz Carruthers IV, Mary Louise Hamrick, Charlotte Ann Jennings, and Sarah Crystal Carruthers), eight grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.
For more of B.J.'s life story, please visit https:// www.asturner.com/ The family requests that in lieu of flowers, gifts be made to St. Timothy's Episcopal Church or the Kingsport Art Guild.