PLEASANT VALLEY - Betty Jo Hemphill of Pleasant Valley went home to be with the Lord on Monday, Oct. 2, 2000 while at the beach in North Carolina, one of her favorite places. Born in Atlanta, Georgia, Betty Jo, 52, is survived by her husband, Ray Hemphill of Pleasant Valley; daughter and son-in-law, Lisa and George Prisco of Poughkeepsie; daughter, Dawn Ward and son, David Hemphill of Springfield, Missouri; grandson, Dalston Ward, also of Springfield; mother, Betty Fincher; and brother and sister-in-law, Byron and Carey Fincher of Atlanta, Ga. She was predeceased by her father, Byron Fincher, and three children. Jo loved the Lord and was a faithful child of God. As an active member of the congregation at Faith Assembly of God in Poughkeepsie and the Tres Dias community, she spent her time in study and prayer. An avid reader and student of the Bible, Jo was a gifted teacher who instructed Sunday school and Bible study classes. In 1999, she achieved a life-long dream of traveling to the Holy Land in Israel with her husband and friends, Holly and Jim Collins of Hopewell Junction and Cindy Thomson of Moores Mills. She was an LPN, worked for many years at Rainbows End Bookstore in Wappingers, and was the Activities Director at The Fountains at Millbrook. A high point in her life was returning to Dutchess Community College as an adult student in 1988 where she received an Associates Degree in English and Literature. She loved to write and had several short stories published. A funeral was held with family on Oct. 6, 2000 at H. M. Patterson - Son Funeral Home in Atlanta. A celebration of Jos life will be held at Faith Assembly of God on Spackenkill Road, Poughkeepsie, at 3 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 15. Memorial donations can be made in Jos memory to the Institute of Ecosystem Studies for Lyme Disease Research, Route 44A, Millbrook NY 12545.
