Betty Jean Cooley Milsted

Betty Jean Cooley Milsted, 91, of Lake Charles passed away at 5:54 PM on Sunday, April 28, 2019 in a local hospital.

Mrs. Milsted was born on October 26, 1927 in Beaumont, TX where she was raised and graduated high school. While residing there she worked at St. Elizabeth Hospital as a switchboard operator and also at Hoffer’s as a sales clerk. Mrs. Milsted moved to the Lake Charles area in 1954 and married her husband and began a family. In her earlier years as a mother she worked at S.H. Kress and Company as a clerk and later was able to stay home with her children as a homemaker. Mrs. Milsted was a long-time past member of Boulevard Baptist Church where she worked in the nursery and currently belongs to Friendship Baptist Church.

She loved children and cherished her grandchildren. Mrs. Milsted took pleasure in working in her flower beds, cooking, camping, and visiting with family. She will be remembered for making the best pecan pies around.

Those left to cherish her memory are her husband of 65 years, Edward W. Milsted, Jr. of Lake Charles; daughters, Sue Demarie (Mike) and Donna Whatley (Gary) all of Lake Charles; four grandchildren, Danita Geisleman (Cliff), Amy Demarie, Chris Demarie, and Collin Whatley (fiancé Jeanne Nash); five great grandchildren, Canyon, Bella, and Sophia Geisleman and Brennan and Allison Prejean; and numerous nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Sarah and Grover Byrns Cooley, Sr. and siblings, Ruth McCright, Clara Bell Dean, Grover Byrns Cooley, Jr, Robert Lee Cooley, and Felix Henry Cooley.

Funeral services will be held at 2:00 PM on Thursday, May 2, 2019 in the Johnson Funeral Home Chapel. The Rev. Nathan Nazworth and Rev. Ronnie Estes will officiate. Burial will follow in Highland Memory Garden Cemetery. Visitation will begin on Wednesday from 4:00 PM until 7:00 PM and resume on Thursday from 12:00 PM until the start of the services.