Jan. 24, 1923 –

Jan. 11, 2013

Mrs. Betsy Jo Trammell Shepherd passed away Friday, Jan. 11, 2013, at Bainbridge Memorial Hospital. Services for Mrs. Shepherd will be held at St. John’s Episcopal Church and will be announced later.

Betsy Jo Trammell was born Jan. 24, 1923, to John Hagood and Kate Hill Trammell in Shingler, Ga. Betsy graduated from Robert E. Lee High School in Jacksonville, Fla., and then, in 1941, from Massey Business School in accounting. She worked in the bookkeeping department of McKesson and Robbins, Standard Oil and then at the Naval Air Station. That is where she met Harry Elwood Shepherd. They married and in 1946 moved to Bainbridge.

After four children, Betsy was active in Cub Scouts, Brownie Scouts, Little League baseball and more. She drove the library Bookmobile for 12 years, covering three counties. She became a librarian at Bainbridge State Hospital for the next 23 years. While there, she helped form the first Girl Scout troop for mentally challenged girls in Georgia. It was very successful. Betsy was a member of St. John’s Episcopal Church, where she was active. She taught Sunday School for many years and helped in all other areas of the church.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Harry Elwood Shepherd; daughter, Ellen Laura Brinson; son, Michael Lee Shepherd; a brother, James Harold Trammell; and sisters, Helen Lind, Quida Stephenson and Dorothy Rouse.

Betsy is survived by a son, David Elwood Shepherd of Macon, Ga., and a daughter, Jane Shepherd of Bainbridge; sisters, Jane Flory and husband, Ed, of Winter Haven, Fla., and Sue Trammell of Jacksonville; grandchildren, Harry Brinson and wife, Tonya, of Tallahassee, Fla., Matthew Shepherd and wife, Sandra, of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., Zachary Shepherd of Las Vegas, Nevada, Christine Vermeulen and husband, Rudd, of Washington, D.C., Catherine Shepherd of Washington, D.C., Margaret McPherson and husband, Ryan, of Atlanta, Ga.; four great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild.

Betsy asks that there be no flowers. You may make a donation to St. John’s Episcopal Church, 516 East Broughton Street, Bainbridge, GA 39817, or do something nice for someone you love.

Cox Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements.