Betty Sue Mansfield Reynolds, of Paducah, Kentucky, passed away peacefully on Sunday, December 22, 2024, at the age of 94. She was born on Monday, July 28, 1930, in Paducah, to Roy and Anna Belle Mansfield.
After receiving a $100 gift as a young teen, she decided to use that to break out of the poverty in which she was raised. She had a tremendous amount of drive and put that money toward a beauty school course and ultimately opened her own salon. In addition to the salon, she worked as a telephone operator for the telephone company which she often said was her favorite job ever. Betty adored nice clothes and enjoyed the days long ago when people dressed in beautiful attire to go out anywhere. After marrying, she sold her shop and worked tirelessly along side of her husband in his various businesses including The Reynolds Coal Yard in Paducah.
Betty didn’t travel a lot but when she did you can be sure she was happily sunning on a white sandy beach in her bikini enjoying an ice-cold margarita. With Betty’s family and friends, she took pride in helping where she could, even if it was just to buy a guitar or clothes, always remembering her humble upbringing.
To many, she was known as Aunt Betty whether or not she was related to them. Over the years she would be at a restaurant or store and people would walk up to her and say “you’re Aunt Betty” as if she was a celebrity of some kind. She knew it had to be a friend of one of her nieces or her great-niece and she loved the moniker. When her great-niece Darla visited in the summer you can bet Aunt Betty would throw some of the best slumber/pool parties for her and her friends down the street. It was always quite the event. Her planning and ability to look the other way for a bit when the room that had been taken over with sleeping bags and pallets got overwhelmingly messy was at the heart of what made them so special.
Mrs. Reynolds is survived by her nieces, Diana Lynne Staley Kopecky (Keric), and Dana Marie Staley Rothwell (Randal); her nephew, Homer “Mickey” R. Flood, Jr. (Kathie); her great-nieces, Gloria Denise Snow (Marney), Angela Dawn Greenawalt (Greg), Darla Ann Baker (John), and Melody Rothwell; her great-nephew Garratt Blake Kopecky; her numerous great-great and great-great-great nieces and nephews; her very dear and loyal friend, Bobby Harris
Mrs. Reynolds was preceded in death by her husband Enis A. Reynolds; her parents, Roy Wallace Mansfield and Anna Belle Owen Mansfield; her sisters Dorothy Mansfield Bradford (Harvey), Lou Eva Mansfield Flood (Homer), and Norma Don Mansfield Moore.
A private memorial interment at Brook Hill Cemetery will take place at a future date.
Expressions of sympathy may be made to Betty’s favorite charity St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105.
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