Search Results

AVES, BETTY JO (JODIE) LEONARD 86, passed away Sunday, January 27 at the Presbyterian Hospice in Albuquerque NM. She is survived by a daughter, a brother-in-law, two nieces, two nephews, one cousin, grand nieces and nephews, and ennumerable friends who had became a part of her extended family. She was preceded in death by her husband, Charles Arnim Aves in 1991. She was born September 12, 1926 in Ranger TX to Roy Bryan Leonard & Verna Ogden Leonard; granddaughter to C.E. and Belle Ogden of Andrews Co., Texas. The family lived in Odessa, where Betty Jo and her sisters worked in the family Cafe as soon as they were big enough to stand on a stool to wash dishes. She attended Odessa High School, playing clarinet in the band. For college, she went to Texas Tech, in Lubbock, studying Geology. It was there that she met her life partner, Charlie, a geology student and teacher, who called her "Jodie". Both eventually worked for Gulf Oil Co in Houston, after settling in Spring. Jodie stopped her desk work and became a real worker when their daughter was born in 1954. The family always enjoyed traveling, mostly to national parks and areas with interesting geology. It was not unusual to see the jeep pulled to the side of a highway cut out, the geologists chipping and bagging samples for future analysis. It was this travel which led to one of the most exciting events anyone, especially a geologist (or a 5-yr old) can have; that being in Yellowstone National Park on August 17, 1959 for the 7.3-magnitude Hebgen Lake earthquake. In 1967, the family moved to Albuquerque where Jodie had family. When the daughter started school at UNM, Jodie and Charlie moved to the Hill Country in Texas, buying property which came with its own flock of sheep; her love of dying and knitting skyrocketed. They eventually moved to Odessa to care for Jodie's mother. After Charlie passed away there also, Jodie returned to Albuquerque where she spent the remainder of her life. Jodie loved travel and in the last ten years of her life visited Alaska many times, Israel, New Zealand, cruised the Panama Canal, the Galapagos, sat with the penguins in Anarctica, and watched the polar bears above the Arctic Circle at Svalbard and Iceland. She never went alone; being accompanied by family and friends, these were all special trips with many memories. In Albuquerque, she was very active at Central United Methodist Church. Whether Little Sunbeams, Vacation Bible school, Logos, Bible studies, she was there helping and learning. She knit caps for the homeless program, and designed and needle-pointed kneelers . Jodie was always a knitter; "always" meaning there was always a project in her purse "in case she got stuck somewhere." Her passion for spinning and knitting saw her become involved in most every fiber group in Albuquerque: Las Aranas, Sheep to Shawl at the State Fairs, Knitwits and the annual meeting of SOAR. She was president of the Las Aranas Spinners & Weavers Guild from 1999-2001, and helped the Sheep-to-Shawl exhibit's dying experiment expand. She was one of the first attendees to SOAR (Spin Off Autumn Retreat) and missed only three of the thirty retreats. Many a beginner found her gentle ways of instruction helpful before proceeding on their own paths. Her generosity, her love of life and people, her humor, and her sense of adventure and her love of her God have touched many lives. We were not ready for her to leave, but we cherish the time she was here. Services will be held at Central United Methodist Church on Tuesday, February 5 at 2:00pm. Donations may be sent to the Friends of the Rio Grande Nature Center, Betty Jo Aves Memorial, 2901 Candelaria Rd NW, Alb NM 87107. 505-344-7240
        Published on: Sun February 03, 2013