Betty Jo Lasswell was born on Saturday, June 20, 1936, in McKee Township, Sequoyah County, Oklahoma and died suddenly at her home on Saturday, January 9, 2016, at the age of 79 years, 6 months, and 20 days. Funeral Service will be held on Wednesday, January 13, 2016, 2:30 P.M. at Vansant-Mills Funeral Home, Clinton Missouri. Visitation will take place one hour prior. Interment will follow at Pleasant Valley Cemetery, Deepwater, Missouri. Family suggests memorial contributions be made to the Deepwater Christian Church and may be left in care of the funeral home. Fond memories and condolences can be left online at www.vansant-millsfuneralhome.com.

Betty was born the youngest of seven children to Joseph Newton and Minnie Ellen Towery Holt. She was baptized at the age of fifteen in 1951 at the First Christian Church in Sallisaw, Oklahoma.

Betty was the Valedictorian of her Sallisaw High School graduating class of 1954. After graduation she moved from Sallisaw to Deepwater, Missouri, living with her brother, James Holt and family. Betty was employed at the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Office in Clinton, Missouri. She also worked for over 10 years as a school secretary with Deepwater Public Schools.

On July 31, 1955 at the First Christian Church in Deepwater, Betty was united in marriage to the love of her life, Robert Anderson Lasswell of Deepwater. To this union two children were born, Donna Lynn Lasswell and Robert Anderson Lasswell, Jr. Her greatest joys were her family, home, and working together with Bob on the third generation family farm. Betty was dedicated to her faith, being a member of the Deepwater Christian Church for 60 years, serving as treasurer for over 30 of those years.

Robert preceded Betty in death in 2001. She leaves to mourn her passing, her beloved family; her daughter, Donna of Springfield, Missouri; her son, Andy and wife Karen, of Deepwater, Missouri; her four grandchildren, Christopher Robert Lasswell and wife Karen, of Montrose, Missouri, Anna Linn Zink and husband Bill, of Clinton, Missouri, April Lynnette Wilson and husband Justin, of Costa Mesa, California, and Adam Joseph Legg and wife Avery, of North Kansas City, Missouri; and six great grandchildren, Madelinn, Payton, Riley, Cale, Ayson, and Finn. She is also survived by a sister, Opal Young and a brother, John Holt both of Sallisaw, Oklahoma; plus a host of other relatives and friends. "Aunt Betty Jo" loved and was especially dear to her neices and nephews.

Arrangements have been entrusted to Vansant-Mills Funeral Home of Clinton, Missouri.