Betty (Franklin) Burkett

Graveside Services for Betty Burkett, 78, of Nacogdoches, will be held at 1:00 pm, on Saturday, July 20, 2024 at Hebron Cemetery in Broaddus, Tx. 

Mrs. Burkett passed away on Friday, July 12, 2024. She was born on January 8, 1946, in Hemphill, Texas, to the late Willie and Viola Franklin. Betty grew up in Pineland, Texas. She graduated from West Sabine High School and went on to get her BSN from UT Texas in Galveston. Betty met the love of her life while in Pineland and they were married on June 6, 1964.

Who is BJ? Her real name is Betty Jo Franklin Burkett. At some time, somewhere, and somehow someone abbreviated it to BJ and it stuck.

BJ was not a high society person. She preferred the simple life. In the late 1990s, she settled on a farm in Northwest Nacogdoches County. She had a passion for flowers. There was hardly a place where there wasn’t a flower bed. It would be impossible to name all the flowers. She kept a shovel in her truck and who knew where they would come from.

There was never a time that animals were not in her life. Most of them were rescued or they just showed up. There were cats, dogs, donkeys, chickens, guinea, and probably others. We raised high end Boer goats for several years. She started her business, BJ’s Boot Top Purses, and many a good pair of cowboy boots were turned into purses. That lasted a couple of years and she moved on to something else.

She then decided she wanted to decorate gourds. So, the farm became a gourd farm. I never knew there were so many varieties of gourds. We did leave room for our garden. We grew most of our vegetables and she was pretty good at canning. We saved a little time for traveling with U Bank Travel Club. We made some short trips and some long ones.

There was always some form of artwork in her life. The later years it was diamond art painting. The paintings were similar to the animals or flowers around our place.

Betty is survived by her loving husband of 60 years, Homer Burkett; son, Brian Burkett and wife, Alyson; grandchildren, Watson Burkett and Lillian Burkett.

She is preceded in death by her parents, Willie and Viola Franklin; sisters, “Boots” Franklin, Delores Franklin, Wanda Franklin, Elaine Franklin; brothers, Johnny Franklin and Jerry Franklin.

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