Betty Jean Smith Boyd

December 18,1946 - February 21,2019

“Seldom has God given so much to many people through one woman.”

Betty Jean Smith Boyd’s sunrise was December 18,1946 in Danville, KY. She was the second of ten children of Ansel Smith, Sr. and the late Emma Jean Smith. Betty was a phenomenal woman with a caring soul. Not only was she a great wife, mother, sister, aunt and friend, she was an exceptional grandmother (MawMaw). To know her, you had to love her without a doubt. She was a source of knowledge, an ear of compassion, and a bundle of joy all wrapped up into one. Betty became a matriarch of her family at an early age. She helped raise her siblings before leaving home at the age of 17 and starting a family of her own. She attended West Side School and went on to graduate from Harrodsburg High School.

Betty Jean gave her life to Christ and was baptized by the late Reverend Charles in the early nineteen fifties and was a member of First Baptist Church in Harrodsburg, KY.

In 1967, she transferred her membership and joined First Baptist Church of Kennedy Heights, Ohio, where she remained a member until her sunset. She was an usher for many years and enjoyed her role in the church.

Betty Jean married her soulmate James Thomas Boyd on July 19,1964 and to their union they had two daughters, Sherry and Cassandra. They moved to Cincinnati, OH to begin their life together.

Being the loving caregiver and leader that she was, Betty knew that she wanted to help others, and this was demonstrated throughout her life in so many ways.

She attended Courter Tech/Cincinnati Technical College where she studied to become an LPN and received her license in 1967. She later went back to the University of Cincinnati, Raymond Walters Branch and received an Associate Degree in Applied Science in Nursing in 1979. Then, she wanted to get her Bachelor’s, with the encouragement and unconditional support of her husband, she went back and obtained her Bachelor of Science in Nursing at The Xavier University in 1995. As you can see, they both were advocates for education. Due to her zest for education, she inspired her daughters and others around her to follow in her footsteps.

Betty Jean began her career at Otto C. Epp Hospital in 1969. In 1973, she started her lifelong career with Mercy Hospital in Mariemont. She would later transfer and retire from Mercy Anderson Surgery Center as Nurse Manager in 2012. She also worked part-time at Manor Care Nursing Home in Kenwood.

To know Betty Jean, you know that she was a go-getter and she lived life to the fullest. She always told you exactly what she thought and believed. She was such a huge resource of information that everyone sought out her opinion and approval. She had the upper hand on all her family. That was the way it was, we all knew it, and we all respected it.

She loved God, her family, her friends and her career very much. She loved to travel, from missionary trips, charitable events and family vacations to vacations with her daughters’ tour business, just to name a few. She volunteered to go to Ecuador in South America on two separate occasions where she accompanied surgeons performing plastic surgery to improve the quality of life of young children.

To cherish her memory as well as carry out her legacy she leaves, James Thomas Boyd, her devoted husband of 55 years; two daughters, Sherry Boulding (Craig) and Cassandra Boyd-Bailey; her father, Ansel Smith Sr., three grandchildren, Lamarr Boulding, Lauren Boulding and Landen Boulding; one step grandchild, Jourdan Bailey; two step great grandchildren, Juellz Bailey and Anthony Rosemond Jr.; four brothers, James Smith, Michael Smith, Solomon Smith and David Smith; four sisters, Eliza Dismeaux, Barbara Hodge, Margaret Howell and Patricia Harlan (Ron); one brother-in-law, Robert Boyd; and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.

She is preceded in death by her mother, Emma Jean Smith, brother, Ansel Smith Jr., and son-in-law, Willie Bailey.

Services were held at the First Baptist Church of Kennedy Heights, 6201 Red Bank Rd, Cincinnati, OH 45213 on Saturday, March 2nd, 2019 at 11:00 a.m. Pastors Harley G. Anderson and Robert W. Harper conducted services. Interment was held that same day at Spring Grove Cemetery, 4521 Spring Grove Ave, Cincinnati, OH 45232