“Jo” Goodwin Batey, 83, went peacefully to be with her Lord and Savior on January 9, 2020 in her home in Huntsville, Alabama. She was born in Sparta, Tennessee on July 12, 1936 to the late Joe Clyde Goodwin and the late Jessie Lou Goodwin and was the eldest of three sisters.
Visitation will be at Berryhill Funeral Home from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm on Sunday, January 12 with services immediately afterwards.
She graduated in 1954 from White County High School in Tennessee and then graduated from David Lipscomb College in 1958, majoring in Business. In 1958 Jo moved to Huntsville, Alabama where she was employed by Morton Thiokol. In Huntsville she met the late Zack Taylor Batey and on April 29, 1961 they were married and then started and raised their family. She was a member of the Central Church of Christ from 1958 to 1981 and then the Mayfair Church of Christ since 1981. In 1980 she began work at NASA at Marshall Space Flight Center, working in the Special Projects Office until her retirement in 1995.
Jo is survived by her sisters, Connie Goodwin Jernigan of Sparta, Tennessee and Ramona Goodwin Brodeur of Brentwood, Tennessee; her children Zack Taylor Batey, Jr. of Chapin, South Carolina, Laura Batey Breeden of Huntsville, Alabama, and Thomas Goodwin Batey of Chapin, South Carolina. She is also survived by her grandchildren Jessica Breeden Jacobson and Sarah Katherine Breeden, both of Huntsville, Alabama, and by her great-grandson Wyatt Jacobson of Huntsville, Alabama. Other survivors include her son-in-law Jason Breeden of Huntsville, Alabama, her daughters-in-law Laura Gladden Batey and Jacqueline Suzanne Batey both of Chapin, South Carolina, her sister-in-laws Katie Batey Tramel of Nashville, Tennessee and Pat Batey of Columbia, Tennessee, her brother-in-laws Buddy Jernigan of Sparta, Tennessee and Richard Brodeur of Brentwood, Tennessee, and her grandson-in-law Devin Jacobson of Huntsville, Alabama.
Jo loved to travel, play Bridge and Bunco with her friends, and vacation with her family at Lake Tansi in Crossville, Tennessee. While at Mayfair she was part of the Monday Meals group that delivered meals to those in need and worked with the Bible lesson correspondence ministry. Jo was known for her kind and giving spirit, quick wit, unwavering faith, active lifestyle, sense for fashion, and concern for others.
In lieu of flowers or donations to causes, the family requests that those wishing to honor Jo to do something nice for someone else to help carry on her spirit.
