Betty Brown, 79, passed away at Sunbridge Care Center in Paradise, California, on February 15, 2007. She was preceded in death by her first husband William Otway Shearer of Marysville, Ohio; her second husband Richard Manley Brown of Paradise, California; and her brothers Jim Cotton, John Cotton, and Richard Cotton of Marysville.
Betty was born in Marysville and is a graduate of Marysville High School and Western Union School. In 1946, Betty married William Shearer, who died in 1949. Betty raised their son, William Otway Shearer, in Marysville until 1952 when they moved to Springfield, Missouri.
Betty and Billy often returned to Marysville so Billy could play with his cousins on the Richard and Dorothy Cotton farm and visit his aunt Marilyn Shearer, grandmother Elizabeth Shearer, and great-aunt Willella Shearer Kennedy.
Betty married Richard Brown in 1961 and they moved to California in 1984 so Betty could be near her son Bill and grandson, Zachary Otway Shearer.
Betty loved to walk in the pinewoods of her Magalia home and laugh with her family. Any small child, joke well played, or good shopping bargain would spark the twinkle in her eye.
Betty is survived by her son, grandson, and daughter-in-law Solveig Shearer. Her sisters Mary Cotton Praether of Henrietta, Texas, and Shirley Ann Cotton Ryan of Mulvane, Kansas, her sisters-in-law Marilyn Shearer and Dorothy Cotton of Marysville, and her best friend Naomi Wilson of Grove City also survive her.
A memorial service is planned for the Spring when the tulips Betty loved will be in bloom.
(This obituary was written by Stan's sister, Solveig Shearer, for the Marysville, Ohio, newspaper. If you wish to contact Solveig you may do so by emailing trailboss@swpub.com and he will forward any thoughts you may have to her.)
