A TRIBUTE TO MY WIFE
A TRIBUTE TO MY WIFE BETTY LOU (COPPENGER) MOUTON
(August 18, 1935 – July 27, 2023)
Betty and I were both 7th grade students at the Roosevelt Jr. High School in Tulsa. I didn’t notice her, however, until the 8th grade. At that time I concluded that she was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. I was so bashful, however, that I didn’t let her know. I vowed, however, that when I got my driver’s license I would ask her for a date. She is, incidentally, the only girl I ever asked for a date.
As the months slowly passed by my chances of dating her didn’t seem too good. Betty was so popular that she almost needed a secretary to schedule her dates. She was not only the Band Queen at our high school, but also the Queen of the Corps at the Oklahoma Military Academy in Claremore. Against all odds, however, at age 16, she allowed me to take her to a high school football game.
I rarely went to church in those days, but Betty went to church every time the doors were open. Sadly, I was more interested in her than I was in God. Fortunately, the Holy Spirit was patient with me and I not only decided to become a Christian, but also a preacher. I turned down several scholarships to secular colleges and in 1954 Betty and I went together to an unaccredited Bible College in Lincoln, Illinois. On Nov. 27, 1954 we returned to Tulsa on our Thanksgiving break and became husband and wife. We have been married 68 years. Being a preacher’s wife, however was not easy.
Our first home was a $250 house trailer that was only 18 feet long. Then we moved to a vacant farm house without indoor plumbing while we ministered to a little country church. It was here our first child, John, was born. We heated water on a coal stove to wash his diapers. When I felt led of God to move, she dutifully respected that decision. This led us to an upstairs apartment in Joplin, then to a parsonage in Oswego, Kansas, and then to another parsonage in San Jose, California. Finally we moved to our own home just outside of Carthage, Missouri. We have lived here since 1965 and it was in her own home that she died in her sleep on July 27, 2023. Our daughter, Mary, was with us at the time.
In 1963 I felt that God might be calling us to be a missionaries in Mexico. We left our children with friends, and piled into a $2,500 airplane and flew to Mexico City. Together we decided that this was not where God was leading, but Betty was ready to go wherever the Lord wanted her to be.
Our home in Carthage was barely livable. We bought the ram-shackled house and 29 acres for a mere $7,275. Our son John concluded that he had the only boy in Jasper County who computed a wind chill factor in his bedroom. Betty did the best she could to make it livable and opened our home to the friends of our five children, to visiting missionaries and evangelists, and sometimes even to strangers. Randy Carlson, Mike Pratt, and Dean Holmquist all lived with us for extended periods of time. It was also quite common to have several extra visitors come home after church with us for Sunday dinner.
God has blessed our marriage with 5 children, 26 grandchildren, and 19 great grandchildren. Now that 68 years have come to a close, I wanted to pay tribute to my beloved wife for her years of dedication and sacrifice and thank God that our family has the hope of seeing her again in heaven.
Remember! We do not sorrow like those who have no hope! (1 Thess. 4:13). We believe that Betty’s worn out body will come out of the grave even more beautiful than ever. Like a seed produces something fresh and new, God will provide for her a new body that will never grow old! “Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself even as he is pure.” (1 John 3:3) It will give Betty no greater joy than to meet you at those gates of pearl and welcome you into heaven!