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FEATURE FOR
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 19, 2002
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Betsy Perry ~ Occasionally a Tomboy, Always a Lady |
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As multifaceted as a brilliantly cut diamond, Betsy Perry
shines. The few rough edges she bears result only in a
different kind of gleam, revealing a fortitude of positive
thinking, her greatest asset perhaps being her ability to
see "God's gift" in every misfortune.
Betsy began her life on March 5, 1944, the second of three
children born to James Roy and Elizabeth Childress in the
little town of Bradford where both parents made their
joint living in the garment industry.
On the day of Betsy's birth, however, James Roy was far
away, serving as a Marine during World War II. It was four
months before he knew whether his second child was a boy
or a girl.
Betsy was fortunate in her childhood, so doted upon by
older sister Barbara - who was three years old than she -
that Betsy found no cause to speak until she was three
years old herself. "I'd just grunt and Barbara would get
it for me," Betsy says fondly, adding that their mother
challenges that once she did start talking she never shut
up.
"My sister and I grew up in the most perfect world you've
ever seen," muses Betsy, in awe of years when no one
locked their doors and children never knew people could be
bad. The entire neighborhood was home to the children: "We
ate out of everybody's kitchen and cookie jar," Betsy
recalls, "You just felt safe and loved."
Ten years after Betsy was born, a brother, Harvey, was
added to the family, and life went on in the small town.
An early marriage when Betsy was a young adult didn't
withstand the stresses imposed upon it and Betsy found
herself alone with a small child, sickly from birth, who
has nevertheless grown into a healthy man, his surgeries
in infancy to correct heart problems an apparent success.
Unbroken, Betsy vowed she would learn "a profession of
some kind" to support herself and her son Keith. She went
to school two nights a week and Saturdays to learn how to
cut hair while working 40 hours a week as a secretary,
plus caring for her frequently-ill son.
Her situation changed dramatically when a friend's husband
thought Betsy would be the perfect lady to accompany his
friend, who was visiting from Michigan, to a Christmas
dance.
Joe Perry had left Tennessee at 15 and was back for a
holiday rabbit-hunting venture with his friend. "He never
even got the gun out of the trunk," Betsy laughs. The
chemistry between the pair was so strong that 45 minutes
into their blind date, Joe asked Betsy to marry him.
"You're the most conceited man I ever met!" Betsy
countered, "I've already had a husband and I don't want
one."
Nevertheless, the couple talked long into the night and
all the next day and spent New Years together before Joe
had to return to Michigan. He left with clear resolve that
Betsy would someday become his wife.
Betsy pondered the words in letters Joe wrote from
Michigan, words that revealed his values, ethics and
thoughtful personality. Still, it took an automobile
accident in February to fully open Betsy's eyes and heart.
In the hospital after the accident, Betsy paced between
her son and sister-in-law - passengers in the car she had
been driving - trying to ensure both their needs were met.
Finally, the doctor asked her, "Keith is fine; where were
you when this happened?"
"I was driving," she replied, and collapsed upon realizing
the broken bones in her arm were protruding from her skin.
Answering routine questions, Betsy realized her answers
were all the same - she was the person financially
responsible for the bill, she was the person to contact in
the event of an emergency.
"I realized, 'This is not the way I want to live my life -
alone'," she says. When she was able, the first phone call
she made was to Joe in Michigan.
"Eight hours and forty-five minutes later he walked up on
the porch, there to rescue us," Betsy smiles. "Four days
later we were married. He's been my knight in shining
armor. He showed me there's a whole big shiny world out
there; all you've got to do is enjoy it."
Keith was four and Joe's daughter, Rene', was nine when
Betsy moved to Michigan, where she completed her training.
She took on many jobs over the years, traveling for Estee
Lauder and selling to suppliers, but her favorite job has
always been "behind the chair."
As the years went by, Betsy advised Joe, "If you're going
to take me back (to Tennessee), take me when the kids can
go with me."
The perfect opportunity arose when Rene' was 16: "Our
daughter was fixing to get her driver license and we
couldn't stand the thought of turning her loose up there,"
Betsy says. The family moved home to Tennessee during
Homecoming '76, settling in Atwood. Unfortunately, Rene'
didn't bond with the south, and returned to Michigan as a
young adult.
Life went well for the family, one of their crowning
achievements being the 3,000 sq ft., two-story home they
fashioned largely from their own labor by "trial and
error".
For "five to ten years" the family lived in what is now
the basement, with three walls underground and one facing
out. Betsy was satisfied with that arrangement, then one
day came home to find "two-by-fours sticking up" above the
flat roof. Contractors finished the exterior of the home,
then Joe and Betsy tackled the inside work. Last year, Joe
added an art room for one of Betsy's favorite pastimes,
painting beautiful water color florals and, more recently,
old fashioned barns. She also enjoys counted cross stitch,
an art she feels is under appreciated. Betsy is involved
with Carroll Arts, displaying her paintings and
counted-cross stitch creations at events sponsored by the
organization.
In contrast to her floral painting and needlework is
another favorite hobby she shares with Joe: riding Harley
Davidson motorcycles. They attend Bike Week on the East
Coast each year, mingling with other Harley enthusiasts.
A tomboy by nature, Betsy is still 100% lady, as pretty as
the flowers she delights in painting and as sweet as a
southern belle, never mind the rambunctious personality
that has stood her in good stead in her business as a
barber. Betsy declares success in the business is
"two-thirds personality and one-third ability."
"You've got to be as rich as everybody sitting in your
chair and poor as anybody sitting in your chair so
everyone feels comfortable being there," she coaches. "I
really do just love people, I love hearing their different
stories."
Not that a female barber is always accepted. Every once in
awhile a customer stops midway through the door and says,
"What's a woman doing in a barber shop?"
Betsy replies, "Cuttin' hair - you want your's cut?"
Most of the time, he comes on in and is pleased with both
his haircut and the conversation. Betsy goes out of her
way to be sure she can talk about the latest ballgame or
fight on T.V.
"I might not be an authority on it but at least I can make
a few comments," she says.
Betsy's best opportunity arrived six years ago when former
McKenzie Barber Joe Hamilton offered to sell his shop at
the corner of Waldren and Lee Avenue in downtown McKenzie.
It was a move that at once staggered and uplifted her. "I
stood in here and looked around and thought, 'Oh, Lord,
I'm 50 years old and I've bought a shop and I'm in debt."
She has since recovered from the shock of taking the
plunge in the early autumn of life. "I've been happier
here than anywhere I've ever been," she says, "I felt on
the day I got here I was at home in this little corner;
there are a lot of good people in McKenzie - Everybody in
McKenzie has been so nice to me - it's just been a great
place to work."
Prize-sized fish decorate the wall of the shop as well as
old photographs of downtown McKenzie and World War II
memorabilia from when her dad was overseas. For Flag Day
last week, she hung a flag from her grandfather's fighting
days, digging through the attic to retrieve the special
flag from World War I that bears 48 stars, sewn before the
addition of Alaska and Hawaii in 1959.
Her grandfather, James Harvey Swindell, served in the
horse cavalry in France during the First World War, where
he contracted tuberculosis.
"The World War II veterans like to see the flag when they
come in," says Betsy, who is proud to also be the wife of
a military man, with Joe serving full time in the National
Guard in Lavinia until his retirement.
Recently, Betsy has been conducting an informal poll of
her older customers, asking them what the best advances
have been over the years. "They say the automobile and
electricity," she reports.
Betsy decided a few years ago to pass her good fortune on
to protégé' Amy Blaylock of McKenzie: "I talked her into
going to barber school and going to work for me," Betsy
says with happy satisfaction.
She describes Amy's good nature as a former employee of
Red Dot Laundry Service as the main reason for her offer.
"She would bring the rugs in and smile and speak to
everybody. I told her, 'Why don't you go to barber school
as good as you get along with everybody and in a few years
I'll give you such a good deal on a barber shop you won't
know what happened to you.'"
Amy took Betsy up on her offer, driving all the way to
Clarksville for her training, and has been working at
"Haircuts by Betsy" for two years this coming July.
Betsy's life has not been without trials. She lost her
beloved sister Barbara to cancer the year before opening
her shop in McKenzie, a fact that made buying the shop
even harder. "I came into this world with my bossy sister
telling me every move to make," she says, the lump in her
chest evident from the pain in her eyes.
She received a special inheritance from her sister, whose
will read, "To my sister I leave my most precious
possession, my daughter Beth." With love, Betsy and Joe
have fulfilled Barbara's request that they be present for
all her special occasions.
Concerning the hard times in her life, Betsy says,
"Everything happens when you're ready for it." The secret,
she says, is "try to find the positive no matter how bad
it is" and "strive for a kind heart."
She believes that in every trial is a gift, though
"sometimes you have to look hard for it." One of the best
gifts she has received is Joe. "I wouldn't have been such
a success in my business without the support of my
husband," she says sincerely, recalling weekends when the
kids were small that Joe and the children would leave
early for a trip to the river. When the day's work was
done, she would drive up alone to join them.
One of the best accolades she bestows upon her husband in
grateful appreciation is, "He's been a great father to my
son."
All in all, Betsy says, "I've had a great life; I got to
do whatever I wanted to do, and I have a husband who
thinks I'm the greatest artist in the world. I've always
loved my job - I might be ready to go home at the end of
the day but in the morning I'm ready to come back. One day
is never like the next, there's never a dull moment around
here." |
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Phone (731) 352-3323 or Fax (731)
352-3322
washburn@mckenziebanner.com
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