On Friday afternoon, December 9, 2022, our world lost a beautiful and precious soul, Betty Haskins, at the age of 94. Betty will long be remembered for having lived her life happily and well; she loved her family fiercely, knew and enjoyed hard work indoors or out, and treasured her beloved Indiana University Hoosiers basketball team. Betty derived great pleasure from growing her geraniums and tomatoes year after year (she never saw a weed she didn’t want to pull) along with mowing her lawn, and she found considerable joy in a good cold beer when her work was finished. The hotter the weather, the happier she was, especially on the beaches in Florida where she and Joe wintered. Betty worked alongside Joe in the Haskins Feed Mill and Litter Company and found immense satisfaction in cooking wonderfully delicious meals for her family and friends. There was never a shopping trip she would miss; she loved buying pretty clothes, timeless furnishings for their home, and she sincerely enjoyed sharing all her possessions with those she loved. She was generous to a fault, and her heart was truly as big as the whole outdoors. Those of us who were fortunate to know her love were blessed indeed.
Betty was born on October 24, 1928, to the late Sherman and Ocie (Evans) Bateman in Daviess County, IN. She was educated in Plainville, IN, and married Joseph Haskins on April 27, 1945. To that union was born Cheryl Campbell of Bloomington, IN, Nancy (Robert) Herstine of St. Joseph, Minnesota, Steven Haskins of Odon, IN, and Mark Haskins of Kingston, Jamaica, all of whom survive.
She is also survived by her sister, Jodi Eaton, grandchildren, John Mark Sears, Leigh Anne Gee, JD Trueblood, Heather Dobrzynski, Joseph Byron Fackler, Mark Haskins, Jr., Bridget Monson, Amber Haskins, fourteen great-grandchildren, two great-great grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews.
Betty was preceded in death by Joseph Haskins, her husband of sixty-three years, in 2008, her siblings, Mildred Bateman Williams, George Bateman, William Bateman, and Allene Bateman Miller, Elsie Irene Bateman, half-siblings Arthur Bateman, Quentin Bateman, Earl Bateman, Pearl Bateman Hall, Woodrow Bateman, and Alma Bateman Balan, along with two grandchildren, Kathy Trueblood and Adam Trueblood.
Betty would most want to be remembered for her zest for life and her delight in and love for her family and numerous friends across Daviess County and beyond.
Calling hours will be Tuesday, Dec. 13, 4-8 p.m. at Meng Family Funeral Home in Odon. Funeral services will be held at Meng Family Funeral Home on Wednesday, Dec. 14, at 10 a.m. with interment following at Walnut Hill Cemetery in Odon.
Memorials donations may be made to Parkview Village Christian Care at 800 S. West Street, Odon, IN, 47562, or to the charity of one’s choice.