Betty Jane Stover

She grew up in Bucyrus, ND. She was an adventurous lady. After she graduated high school, she joined the Army when there were very few women in the military. She met her husband James Stover while stationed in DC. He was in the Air Force and she gave up her military career to follow her husband wherever he was stationed in England, Germany, Nebraska, and Florida for 20 years. Upon his retirement, they moved back to her home town. He died in 1979 but before that they went to Korea and Australia to see their sons in the military.

A devoted mother, she worked three jobs at one time to make sure her children got more education than high school. In the meantime she learned how to fly. A few years after her husband died she met a man from Florida that owned a shrimp boat. After they got aquainted, she agreed to join him helping on the shrimp booat and the rest of the days of her life, she was off on another adventure.

During this time, she was not done traveling. She made a trip to Norway, the land of her ancestors and several trips to England with her granddaughter and her sister, Shirley. She also was a poet and had several of her poems published. After six years in Florida, even through she loved the shrimp boat life, they agreed to sell out and move to Tennessee. They bought land on Blue Goose Road and she reverted back to a farm girl. She wanted to grow things, planted fruit trees, berry bushes and a large garden. She loved working the dirt and canned about 100 quarts of produce each year.

She is survived by her companion of 22 years, Leroy Miller; her daughter, Luella; her sons, Arthur and Anthony; her sister, Shirley Wood and Brother Robert Yhoe.

She requested to be cremated and her ashes be thrown to the North Dakota wind off the top of Wolf Butte, ND. She died of multiple organ failure. I cannot put into words how much her companion of 22 years and his son, Mark, will miss her.