Jo Vietti

Betty Jo Vietti died May 2, 2024, at home with members of her family at her side. Born in Columbus, Kansas on June 2, 1928, Jo was the daughter of Alva and Edna Belt. She lived there through her childhood years. Jo met and married Leno A. Vietti and located to Pittsburg, Kansas for a short period until a job opportunity caused them to move to the Panhandle of Texas for work at the Phillips Chemical Company Plant in Cactus. While living there for almost nine years, Jo gave birth to her three children, Linda, Margaret, and Kevin. When John Deere Chemical opened a fertilizer plant in 1954, the family moved to Pryor where she called home for the rest of her life.

Jo was a wonderful mother, grandmother, and great grandmother. In the words of one of her grandchildren, “She would welcome us with a bowl of vanilla ice cream with Hershey’s Syrup. While with her she always made us feel accepted, safe, and loved”. Everyone cherished her life stories of growing up during the depression, living through a world war, raising her babies in West Texas during the dust bowl years and her life in general, always with clear remembrances, humor, hardships, sadness…but with no regrets. Jo worked hard to keep in touch with family near and far over the years via phone conversations, visits and letters. Her keen mind and ability to remember the smallest of details made her “information central” for the family and the person that kept us all together.

Because of her kindness and respect for others, Jo made many wonderful friends during the seventy years living in Pryor. She was a great listener who genuinely cared about the people she talked with, and the loyalty to her friends was steadfast. She loved Pryor because of the many wonderful people she knew who lived here, and those who live here still.

Jo was very generous, giving her time and contributing to numerous charities, especially the American Red Cross, an organization her family credited with getting them “back on their feet” after a tornado destroyed their home when she was a young girl.

Her passing was difficult, but she remained brave, kind, and dignified throughout. Jo lived and loved well, and she was loved.

She is preceded in death by her husband Leno and daughter Linda Vietti, as well as her parents and siblings. Jo is survived by her children, Margaret Davis and Kevin Vietti, eight grandchildren and fourteen great grandchildren.

A Celebration of Life will take place from 2:00 p.m. until 4:00 p.m., Saturday, June 1, 2024, at Shipman's Funeral Home in Pryor. To leave a personal message, please visit her guest book at www.shipmansfuneralhome.com. Arrangements are under the direction of Shipman's Funeral & Cremation Service of Pryor.