Betty E. Pugh

Betty E. Pugh, age 97.5, passed away on July 29, 2023 at Altercare LanFair under the care of Fairhope Hospice.  Betty was a Valentine’s baby born February 14, 1926 in Kirkersville, Ohio.  Her parents were Perry Dale Pugh and Edith Evelyn Viars Pugh.  Her family moved to a farm in Athens County early in her life. She graduated from Albany High School in 1945 and went to Washington D.C. where she worked in the Naval Department until the end of the war.  She scheduled ships into port for repair and restocking.  She returned to Athens and earned her degree from “The” Ohio University.  She was a self-taught analytical chemist.  She owned the Sharp-Schurtz Laboratory in Lancaster where she tested ceramic tiles used on the space shuttles.  She was a staunch Republican and not afraid to tell you so.  Joe Biden’s standings in the polls increased with her passing. A voracious reader until her sight gave out.  She continued reading with a visual reading machine and with readers who would come to her home.  Her book collection would make a small-town library blush.  Even with limited sight she still knew everything that happened the neighborhood.  An avid bird watcher, and world traveler, she travelled to 25 countries as well as most of the continental United States.  She is survived by her first cousins Jim, Bill and Jack Burson, along with Dr. Louise Warner and Clive Gosnell her best friends and travelling partners.  A special thanks to her caregiver and good friend Joan Ream and therapist and friend Staci Heffner.  She was preceded in death by her parents and sister Mildred Pugh Hassink.  She was a member of St. John’s Episcopal Church.  Betty has asked that no calling hours or funeral be observed.  She will be buried in the Bates United Methodist Cemetery, Athens County next to her parents. Arrangements have been made through the FRANK E. SMITH FUNERAL HOME. www.funeralhome.com