Betty Jo Wright Sparkman, 88, of Sparta, passed away July 11, 2025, at Saint Thomas Midtown Hospital, in Nashville.
Betty Jo was born Oct. 8, 1936, in Campaign, Tennessee. She was the last surviving child of the eight children born to Vaughn Morgan and Recie Hester Jaco Wright.
She worked alongside her husband at Sparkman’s Jewelry, on the square, in Sparta, and later managed the former Pit Stop where she made many friends with all of her customers. She was a longtime member of Greenwood Baptist Church. In her later years, her middays were devoted to the “Young and the Restless” and solitaire, but, all day, every day, she devoted her time to keeping track of her children and her beloved grandchildren.
In addition to her parents and her seven siblings, she was preceded in death by her husband, Frank M. Sparkman, who died Oct. 27, 1977.
Survivors include her daughter, Mary Beth Strianese; Scott (Leslie) Sparkman; grandchildren, Julie (Thomas) Helmick, Dylan Sparkman, Carlyn (Taylor) Geyer, Jack Sparkman, Seth Sparkman, Ava Sparkman; great-grandchildren, Hunter Helmick, Lily Helmick, Kyler McDonald, Scarlett McDonald; and numerous nieces and nephews.
Funeral service was 1 p.m., July 15, 2025, at Greenwood Baptist Church, with burial in Greenwood Cemetery. John McCord, Scott Sparkman, and Mike McAfee officiated.
Aiden Cummings, Brent Higdon, Joshua Templeton, Jeremiah Hodges, Austin Tolbert, and Mike Rabius served as pallbearers.
Hunter Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.
