Betty Jo Hamner

Betty Jo Hamner, 95 years old, of Lynchburg, Virginia, died on June 2, 2024.  She brought light into every room she entered and made us all smile. She faced many challenges yet still lived her life with grace, kindness and love.  

Her life began in Selma, NC where she grew up, and then attended Flora McDonald College where she graduated with a degree in education.

Betty Jo touched many lives with her genuine interest in others.  She was involved with the youth in every church she was a member of, which included First United Methodist Church of Coral Gables where she was Director of Youth and West Raleigh Presbyterian Church as Director of Christian Education.   She came to Lynchburg in 1984 to serve as Director of Christian Education at the First Presbyterian Church.    

The Lynchburg community took her under their wing forty years ago and she loved it here.  Her work included leading countless bible studies, taking youth on trips to Montreat, NC, backpacking in the Appalachian mountains and on various mission trips.

These mission trips were especially rewarding to her and included trips to Kentucky, Central America, Mexico, and three trips to Malawi.  In Malawi she started a cottage industry with the women there who knitted baby clothes that Betty Jo sold in Lynchburg, returning the proceeds to the African women.   

 After retiring from First Presbyterian Church she served as a Deacon and an Elder.

 She married Fred Kendall of North Carolina and had four children including Jane King, Bill (Dawn) Kendall, Sarah (Scott) Goodman, and John (Susan) Kendall, along with her grandchildren Kendall King, Grier (Michael) Burdell, Peyton King, Campbell Goodman and Shields (Candler) Goodman.  She has two great-grandchildren, Jack and Clark Burdell, and is also survived by her siblings Jim (Barbara Ann) McMillan and Joy (Larry) Bolton.  Betty Jo later married Doug Hamner of Virginia.  

 She will be remembered for her Christian faith and the desire to do her very best.  

 Her children would like to especially thank the staff at Westminster Canterbury for their exceptional care of Betty Jo.

 A Service to the Witness of the Resurrection will be held at First Presbyterian Church in Lynchburg at 1:00 PM on Sunday, June 9, 2024.  In lieu of flowers, the family asks that gifts be made to First Presbyterian Church and Westminster Canterbury, both in Lynchburg.

Tharp Funeral Home & Crematory, Lynchburg, is assisting the family.