Betty Jo Harper Barnes,94, formerly of Gainesville, TX, passed away on Saturday, February 22, 2025 at the Ridgecrest Healthcare and Rehab. The funeral service will be held on Friday, February 28, 2025, at 2:00 PM at the Meador Funeral Home Chapel with burial to follow at the Fairview Cemetery. There will be a time for visitation from 1:00 PM until service time.

Betty was born on March 16, 1930, in Bennington, Oklahoma to Harley and Avna Miller. She married Johnny Harper on May 26, 1948 in Gainesville, and they were married for almost 50 years until his passing in 1993. She later married Deryl Barnes on March 8, 1998 in Gainesville and they were happily married until his passing in 2015. Betty loved to cook, can vegetables and fruit, sewing, ceramics and making fabulous bread. Even though she was a homebody she loved to travel. She was a member of the First Baptist Church in Gainesville.

She is survived by her children: Ronnie Harper and wife Karen; Robert “Bob” Harper and wife Cindy; Brenda Steelman; Lisa White and husband Bryan; Larry Barnes; and Kent Barnes. She has12 grandchildren and numerous great-grandchildren. Betty is also survived by her sister Harlene King of Thackerville.

Betty is preceded in death by her parents Harley and Avna Miller; husbands, Johnny Harper and Deryl Barnes; and siblings Jimalea McGee, Sue Miller, Wilma Thompson, Ann Carson, B.H. Miller and Doug Miller.

Her grandsons will serve as pallbearers.