Betty Jo Sullivan
Dr. Betty Jo Sullivan, 88, retired professor, Ohio University, Athens OH and resident of Glenwood Community, Marietta OH, passed away on May 4, 2012 at Marietta Memorial Hospital.
Betty Jo was born Jan. 12, 1924 in Mt. Pleasant, PA, the eldest child of the late C.R. (Pop) Sullivan and Grace Bengel Sullivan. Her parents moved to Pennsboro, WV in 1925 where her father was coach and later principal of Pennsboro High School. Betty Jo graduated from Pennsboro High School in 1941 and attended Potomac State College and West Virginia University where she completed her degree in home economics. After graduation she completed her dietetic internship at Cincinnati General Hospital and later was employed as a dietician at Clarksburg Union Hospital and Fairmont General Hospital in West Virginia.
In 1952, during the Korean conflict, Betty Jo signed up with the Woman’s Medical Specialist Corp and was commissioned a 1st lieutenant, working as a dietitian with wounded soldiers in San Antonio, Texas. She attended Michigan State University in 1954 where she earned her masters degree in institutional management and nutrition. After graduation she was employed at the new Miners Hospital in Williamson, WV as an administrative dietitian. She later supervised the food service at Concord College in Athens, WV. In the mid-60’s she taught courses in dietetics and food science at Marshall University in Huntington, WV.
Betty Jo enrolled in the Doctoral program at Ohio State University in 1968 receiving her Ph.D. in Nutrition and Dietetics in 1971. She spent the balance of her career as a professor at Ohio University, Athens, OH where she taught Nutrition from 1971 until her retirement in 1989. In 1993 Betty Jo was joined in Athens by her mother, Grace Sullivan who passed away in 2006 at the age of 104. During her retirement years in Athens she enjoyed her beloved dog, Scruffy, gardening, compiling and publishing a cookbook of family and friend’s recipes (preparing and sampling all recipes beforehand), her membership in the Pallas Club and other community activities.
Betty Jo came to reside at Glenwood in November of 2007 and was very happy spending her final years there. She enjoyed her apartment, her plants, continuously reading and learning , rooting for the various college football and basketball teams where she had attended or taught, working her crossword puzzles and making many dear friends at Glenwood.
Betty Jo is survived by her brothers, C. Robert Sullivan (Jane), Sistersville, WV and Alfred B. Sullivan (Lou) Wadsworth, OH, her cousin, Carol Mitchell of Houston, TX and her sister-in-law, Norma Sullivan of Berlin, OH. She is also survived by her beloved nieces and nephews, Dan Thomas, Joe Sullivan, Rolly Sullivan, Kathy Hutzler, Michael Sullivan, Peter Sullivan, Lori Snoke, Brian Sullivan, Tom Sullivan, and Susan Sullivan, their respective families, and many dear grand nieces and nephews. In addition to her parents she was preceded in death by her brother, Carl R. Sullivan, Jr. and his wife, Dolores Sullivan of Charlestown, WV, her brother, David B. Sullivan of Berlin, OH, her sister-in-law, Ramona Sullivan of Sistersville, WV, two nephews, Mark Sullivan and Bruce Sullivan and one grand nephew, Ashton Fink. Betty Jo would wish to acknowledge her many friends at Glenwood as well as her friends, associates and formers students. Special thanks to her Glenwood caregiver, Waynett Montgomery.
Funeral Services will be held at McClure-Schafer-Lankford Funeral Home, 314 Fourth Street, Marietta OH on Wednesday, May 9, 2012 at 1:30 pm. Visitation will be Tuesday from 2-4 and 6-8 and one hour prior to the service on Wednesday. Interment will follow at East Lawn Memorial Park in Reno, OH. Memorial donations may be made to Pennsboro United Methodist Church at 601 Main Street, Pennsboro, WV 26415 or the C.R. (Pop) Sullivan and Grace Bengel Scholarship Award at Ritchie County High School, 107 Ritchie County School Road, Ellenboro, WV 26346. Messages of sympathy may be sent at www.mslfuneralhome.com.