Bettye Jean Byrd Ott

Betty Jean Ott peacefully returned to her Heavenly Father on January 27, 2024 at 91 years of age.  She was a resident of Legacy House in Farmington, Utah at the time of her death.  Betty was born on November 25, 1932 to Marvin Martin Byrd and Mary Magdalene Brantley Byrd.   She was raised on a humble farm in West Helena, Arkansas, the third of eight children.  She told her children that working on the farm as a child was the hardest job she ever had.  This was the foundation of a strong work ethic she had throughout her life.

When she was 16 years old, she had a dream that she would marry a missionary.  This was strange because she had no idea who missionaries were and what they did.  Two years later she met missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, including one young man from Tropic, Utah by the name of Layton Ott.  Elder Ott was instrumental in teaching her about this new religion and later baptized her a member of the Church.  She was a faithful member for the rest of her life.  The fulfillment of her dream took place on June 30, 1952 when she and Layton were married in the Logan Utah Temple.

Betty and Layton formed a strong, loving and effective partnership.  She worked to help support the family while Layton finished his education at the University of Utah and later at UCLA.  Seven children blessed and expanded their family over 18 years and Betty soon became a full time mother, complete with lots of overtime.  She was a loving and caring mother and her family was absolutely the most important part of her life.  She took great care to be available to her family and often greeted her children at the end of a school day with freshly bake cookies or some other treat.

Over the years, Betty and Layton had homes in Bountiful, Salt Lake City, Kaysville and St. George forming strong friendships in each location.

In addition to serving her family, she offered service in numerous Church callings throughout her life.  She served in the Primary, Young Women’s and Relief Society organizations.  Perhaps her fondest calling was serving with her husband, Layton, in the Baptistry of the St. George Temple. 

Betty loved holidays and Christmas most of all.   She would spend weeks beautifully decorating her home for Christmas and putting together the perfect family Christmas party.  Gifts were her love language and she worked hard to find just the right one for each member of the family.  She used her great talents for cooking and baking and would spend hours preparing plates of delicious candies and cookies, pies and bread.  Her family loved going together to Temple Square to see the lights and enjoyed Christmas movies together, especially A Christmas Carol.   

The greatest trial Betty faced in life was the passing of Layton in 2004.  She dealt with sorrow and loneliness but enjoyed the love and support of her family and continued to serve.  She found great comfort and solace spending time as an ordinance worker in the St. George Temple.  She was also well known for making beautiful baby blankets and sharing them with family and friends as well as hospitals and support organizations in both Northern and Southern Utah.  Hundreds of children have snuggled in blankets made by Betty.

Betty was preceded in death by her husband, Layton, and one grandson, Michael Ott.  She is survived by her seven children: Debra (David, deceased) Blade, Stephen (Jan) Ott, Lorie (John) Roe, Vickie (Detlef) Schwurack, Corinne (Paul) Jensen, Patricia (Darren) Godfrey and Norma (Daniel) Meyers.  She is also survived by nineteen grandchildren, twenty three great grandchildren and one great great granddaughter.  Betty also has two surviving brothers, Robert and Douglas Byrd.

Funeral services for Betty will be held on Friday, February 2, 2024 at 2:00 p.m. at Lindquist’s Layton Mortuary, 1867 No. Fairfield Rd., Layton, Utah. Friends may visit with family Friday from 12:30 to 1:45 p.m. at the mortuary prior to the service. Following the funeral, interment will take place at the Kaysville City Cemetery.

The service will be live-streamed and may be viewed by scrolling to the bottom of Betty’s obituary page at www.lindquistmortuary.com.

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