- Date Of Birth: July 1, 1925
- Date Of Death: February 8, 2018
- State: Illinois
Betty Jean Hamm, 92, of Jacksonville, died Thursday, Feb. 8, 2018, in Jacksonville.
She was born July 1, 1925, in Beardstown, the daughter of Emery and Eleonore Wagner Overbey. She married Robert D. Hamm on July 4, 1948, in Beardstown, and he preceded her in death on Sept. 26, 2000.
She is survived by three daughters, Barbara (husband, Dan) Lenihan of Santa Fe, NM, Janet Hamm of Jacksonville, and Nancy (husband, Michael) Miner of Naperville; five grandchildren, Brendan Lenihan of Tucson, AZ, Aaron Lenihan of Athens, GA, Emily Miner of Los Angeles, CA, Walker Miner of Naperville, and Liana Hamm of Houston, TX; and three nieces, Katie Birkland of Brookfield, WI, Bette Freidinger of Winston-Salem, NC, and Cassie Bunker of Minneapolis, MN. She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband; one sister, Doris Louise Sutton; and a brother in infancy, Robert Overbey.
Mrs. Hamm was a 1947 graduate of MacMurray College where she majored in music. After graduating, she taught elementary school in Springfield for one year before marrying and moving to Jacksonville. She then taught at Franklin Elementary School in Jacksonville from 1967-1979. In 1974 she received her Master’s Degree in Human Development Counseling from the University of Illinois at Springfield. She had served as President of the MacMurray Music Association and was a member of the MacMurray Art Collection Committee. She had also served on the MacMurray Alumni Board from 1984-1990, the Board of Trustees from 1991-2010, and in 1992 received the Distinguished Alumni Award. In 2010, she was elected a Lifetime Trustee of the College. Betty was a member of Chapter CY PEO for 68 years, and was a longtime member of Grace United Methodist Church. Her other community activities included the Jacksonville Art Association, where she served on the Board of Trustees from 1964-1975, the Sorosis professional women’s club, and the Jacksonville Republican Women’s Club. Mrs. Hamm frequently provided piano and organ accompaniment for community events. She and her husband, Robert, traveled extensively throughout the U.S., as well as Asia, Australia, South America and Europe.
