Bettye Matherley

Mrs. Bettye Jo Matherley, 79, loving and spirited wife, mother, sister, and "Nana" passed away in Burton, Michigan on June 1, 2016 after a courageous multi-year battle with cancer. She is remembered with love as a passionate woman who left everything she touched more beautiful than before and lived her life to the very end full of contagious creative energy and exuding a positive resilient attitude. Bettye loved her family and friends dearly, enjoyed volunteering her time and making thoughtful care packages for deployed service men and women; she was a lifelong learner and firmly believed that there was nothing a glue gun couldn't fix. Bettye was born on August 2nd in Mount Clare, West Virginia to parents John R. and Opal V (Shue) Floyd. She was the second-to-youngest of six and is survived by her brother, Hansford (Skip) Floyd and sister, Marian Fetchik. Her parents as well as her sisters, Delores Ann Gasser, Pauletta Smirnoff and brother, Charles Floyd, preceded her in death. On May 28, 1955 she married her high-school sweetheart, James Matherley, and this year the couple celebrated their 61st wedding anniversary. The two spent their newlywed years traveling while he served in the Navy and she often reflected on those early years as the time when she discovered her personal strength and sense of adventure. They eventually found their home in Michigan and raised their family. In addition to her husband James, Bettye is survived by two loving daughters, Vicki Shoesmith (Burton, MI) and Terri Tyson (Winston-Salem, NC) along with their husbands, Glenn Shoesmith and Vern Tyson, as well as four grandchildren - Brandon Perry (Ypsilanti, MI), Andrea Littell (Winston-Salem, NC), Melissa Stinson (Burton, MI) and Adam Bailey (Vail, CO). She is also survived by four great-grandchildren, Conner and Olivianna Stinson, Christopher James Perry and James Bailey Littell. A private service will be held for immediate family. A memorial service will be planned for a later date. Online condolences can be shared on our website at www.sharpfuneralhomes.com