Person:Betty Kemmerer (1)

Parsons Sun (KS) - September 17, 2007 Deceased Name: Betty Lou Tullis CHETOPA - Betty Lou Tullis, 86, of Chetopa died at 3:34 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 15, 2007, at Chetopa Manor.

She was born Nov. 4, 1920, in Parsons to Claude and Floy Kemmerer. She was a graduate of Parsons High School and Parsons Junior College. In earlier years, she was active in community charities and politics. She was a volunteer for many years in the mental health field and more recently at Chetopa Manor. She enjoyed singing, crafts and especially crocheting. She crafted many dolls and Christmas decorations and crocheted baby blankets to welcome newborns. She loved children and she devoted her life to caring for the needs of others.

She married George R. Tullis in 1939. She lived in the Bartlett area until 1999. She was a long-time member of the W.W.W. Homemakers Extension Club, worked in many Labette County fairs and served on the Labette County Extension Service Council. She was an active member of the Bartlett United Methodist Church until she moved to Chetopa, where she later joined the First Christian Church.

Survivors include a son, George W. "Billy" Tullis of Chetopa; a nephew, David E. Blackburn and his wife, Lisa, of Oklahoma City; three great-nieces and great-nephews, Kyle, Erika and Kerry; a daughter-in-law, June Tullis of Arkansas; and many other family members.

She also was preceded in death by her parents, two sons, Steven E. Tullis and Donald L. Tullis; a sister, Dorothy Kemmerer Blackburn; and two brothers, Jack Kemmerer and Morris Kemmerer.

A graveside service will be at 10 a.m. Tuesday at Lake Creek Cemetery in rural Bartlett with Wayne Mason, Harry Hynes Memorial Hospice chaplain, officiating. The casket will remain closed at the graveside service. The family will receive friends from 7 to 8 p.m. today at Bath-Forbes-Hoffman Funeral Home in Chetopa.

The family suggests memorials to Harry Hynes Memorial Hospice or the American Heart Association. These may be left at or mailed to the funeral home, P.O. Box 346, Chetopa, 67336.

The family wishes to express sincere gratitude to Barbara Weston, who was a caregiver for five years, the hospice caregivers, and Danetta Harper and staff at Chetopa Manor for their extraordinary efforts to make her comfortable in her final days.