Betty Jean Durham was born in Portageville, Missouri on December 5, 1942, to Warren G. Durham Sr. and Hattie Mae Durham. The eldest of six children she took on the responsibility of being a role model for her siblings. She was raised in a church-oriented family as her father was a Deacon and attended Mount Esther Missionary Baptist Church. In her youth she enjoyed traveling down south to visit her grandmother Beulah Davis who was a schoolteacher.

Betty attended John Marshall High School and graduated in 1962. In 1960 she met her would-be husband, Edward Mitchell Jr., and was married on March 29, 1963. They were blessed with the joy of their first-born child, Edward Earl Mitchell, and later received another blessing, Alicia Mitchell.  The four of them enjoyed vacations to places like Disney World, Toronto, Canada, and family reunions in the south.

Betty and Edward joined Aldersgate United Methodist Church on November 17, 1985. In 1991 their son, Edward, married Doretha J. Williams and were blessed with their first child in 1994, Arron Antonio Mitchell, to be followed by Arric Anthony Mitchell in 1996, Austin Alexander Mitchell in 2000 and finally, Aja Angelique Mitchell in 2001. Betty devoted her life to caring for her grandchildren so much that she retired from Ohio Bell, where she worked for twenty-four years as a Technical Engineer, a month after her first grandson was born. Her grandchildren and everyone else, called her Gammy. She regularly attended church with her husband and grandchildren at Aldersgate. Betty would later work at the church’s daycare center for ten years, caring for and nurturing the babies.

Betty loved to travel, read, sew quilts, make pillows and angels, do crossword puzzles, watch tv shows like Law & Order and Judge Joe Brown, and spend time with her grandchildren. Her favorite music included: Michael Jackson, Prince, Stephanie Mills, Luther Vandross, Kem, Chaka Khan, Fantasia, and “the fine” Jahiem.

As a firm believer in education, she imparted the necessity of learning onto her children and grandchildren and was the proudest and loudest person at every one of their graduations. Betty was a devoted member of God’s flock and lived a life of humility and grace.

She is preceded in death by her father, Warren G. Durham, Sr.; her mother, Hattie Mae Durham; her brother, Charles E. Durham; and her sister, Dorothy J. Durham (Russell).

She will be greatly missed by her brothers, Warren G. Durham Jr., Donald L. Durham, and Dwayne E. Durham; her husband of fifty-nine years, Eddie Mitchell, Jr.; her son, Edward Earl Mitchell; her daughter, Alicia Mitchell; her daughter-in-law, Doretha Mitchell; and her grandchildren, Arron Mitchell, Arric Mitchell, Austin Mitchell, Aja Kouassi, and Fernand Kouassi; as well as a host of family, friends, and admirers.