BETTY JEAN MURPHY RATHBUN

Betty Jean Murphy Rathbun, 90, formerly of Canton, Missouri, died July 12, 2023, at home in Bluffton, Indiana, where she had resided for the past 5 1/2 years.

Betty was born on April 18, 1933 in Springfield, Missouri, to Kenneth L. and Thelma L (Kauffman) Murphy. She was united in marriage to Paul V. Rathbun on May 27, 1951 at Marshfield Christian Church in Marshfield, Mo. She attended Drury College and graduated from Texas Christian University with a B.A. in Education and a minor in religion. She earned her master’s degree in education from Northeast Missouri State University. She taught remedial reading, 4th grade, kindergarten, special education, learning disabilities, and Adult Basic Education. She taught in Fort Worth, Texas, and in Paris, Hannibal, Trenton, and Canton, Missouri.

Betty loved working with her fellow teachers and students. She poured her heart into making learning meaningful and relevant for each child. She was known for her caring, happy nature and sense of humor. She believed in being a good steward and was instrumental in leading the school’s Earth Day activities, such as using the proceeds from a recycling cans contest to help save the rainforest. She was instrumental in getting the community recycling started, all of which earned her the nickname “Mother Earth”.

She was a supportive partner to her husband, Paul in all their pastorates in Fort Worth, Texas and Springfield, Paris, Hannibal, Trenton, Canton, and Revere Missouri. She enjoyed music - classical, big band, gospel music in the rural churches, and musicals, as well as reading, gardening, camping, traveling, and attending concerts and events at Culver-Stockton College. From 1977 to 1998, if her husband, Paul, was working on the tugboat and unable to fill the part-time pulpit at Peaksville Christian Church in Revere, Mo., she would brush up on one of his “best” sermons, wash the car on Saturday, and bravely preach, every other Sunday morning.

She had memberships at various times in several organizations, including Christian Women’s Fellowship, Kahoka Chapter #40 Order of the Eastern Star, P.E.O. and volunteered in the church and community. One project was assisting her husband, Paul, with designing camping pads at the riverfront, and then maintaining the bulletin boards with updated information.

Survivors include her daughter, Christie (Mac) McAvoy, Bluffton, Ind.; two granddaughters, Erin McAvoy of Bluffton and Kelly McAvoy of Greensburg, Ind.; one grandson, Sean McAvoy, Fort Wayne, Ind., and one cousin, Mary Belle (Bill) Landreth of Freeport, Fla. 

Aside from her parents, Betty was preceded in death by her husband, Paul Rathbun, son, Mark Eugene Rathbun, a double cousin, Reba Hubbard, as well as other extended family members.

Funeral services will be held Saturday, July 22, 2023 at 2:00 p.m. at the Canton Christian Church with Pastor Shawn McAfee and Pastor Mandy Gosik officiating.  Visitation will be held July 22, 2023 from noon until time of services with an Eastern Star service at 11:45 a.m. in the church. Music will be congregational hymns accompanied by Don Altgilbers. Songs will be “In the Bulb there is a Flower” “Give Thanks” & “Because He Lives”

Pallbearers: Virgil Welker, Scott Giltner, Jesse Uhlmeyer, Willie Davis, Jim Crenshaw and Shannon Morlang. Honorary Pallbearers: Susie Welker, Deb Crenshaw, Anne Davis, Janet Ricketts, Carla Tobin, Stephanie Rieffer and Kristen Yargus.

Burial will be in Forest Grove Cemetery, Canton, Mo. 

In lieu of floral tributes and gifts, memorial contributions may be made to Canton Christian Church Building Fund, Peaksville Christian Church, First Reformed Church - Bluffton, Indiana, or Culver-Stockton College student scholarship fund.

Online condolences may be left at www.davis-fh.com