The simple picture of Jesus hung on her wall, a reminder that Jesus was the source of her comfort and strength. Betty Jo Parks Passwaters Cowger, formerly of Pocomoke City and Blades, went home to be with her Lord and Savior on May 1, 2025. Her greatest joy in life was her relationship with Jesus and being a wife, mother, and grandmother.
Betty Jo was born on Sept. 16, 1944, to Francis Holland Parks and Agnes Pearl Williams Parks. She grew up in Blades and graduated from Seaford Senior High in 1962 and Delaware Technical and Community College in 1987. Betty Jo loved her hometown roots and keeping up through the Seaford Star, phone calls, or letters.
From her first marriage, she had two beloved children, William Francis Passwaters, and Michelle Passwaters Mackall. In 1990, Betty Jo married James Wendell Cowger and loved the quiet life they lived for 27 years. Hymns were always playing on a portable CD player that she would take with her from room to room. She loved her time at First Baptist Seaford teaching the 2–4-year-old class and singing in the choir, and later in life, attending First Baptist Pocomoke.
Betty Jo enjoyed working with the elderly as a caregiver, which started with her job at the Seaford Adult Daycare Program. She served as the program coordinator for the Snow Hill Senior Center for two years before transitioning to helping seniors in their home. The highlight of her week was the drives in the countryside she and Wendell were able to take over the years followed by a McDonald’s ice cream cone. She enjoyed yard sales, collecting books, and collecting recipes, especially personal ones from friends, monthly breakfast get-togethers with her sisters, visits to her brother in Ohio, or sitting under the tree chatting with friends and family.
Betty Jo was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, Wendell, sisters Kay Pusey, Margaret Kirkendall, and Janet Warwick, stepdaughter, Joanne Cowger, and nephews, Rick and Mike Kirkendall, and Racey Pusey.
Betty Jo is survived by her son William Francis Passwaters (Eiko) of Owings, Md. and daughter, Michelle Passwaters Mackall (John) of Elkridge, Md.; five grandsons John Mackall (Sara) and great-granddaughter, Molly, of Apex, NC, Ken Passwaters (Cat) of Lusby, Md., Kyle Mackall (girlfriend Amanda) of Glen Burnie, Md., Christian Passwaters of Lexington Park, Md., Timothy Mackall of Elkridge, Md., and granddaughter, Rachel Mackall of Charlotte, NC. She is also survived by her brother Van Parks (Susy) of Reynoldsburg, OH, and sister Gloria Smith, of Georgetown and her nieces and nephews.
The family welcomes family and friends to a Memorial Service on May 12 at noon at First Baptist Church of Laurel, 32631 Bi State Boulevard; Laurel, DE 19956, and invites you to stay for a small fellowship following the service. In lieu of flowers, the family requests you do a random act of kindness for another with a smile for which she was known.
To leave a condolence visit www.cranstonfuneralhome.com.