Rachel Louise Witty

Rachel Louise Witty, daughter of the late Wilbur and Sallie Mable (Helms) Harris, was born January 15, 1942, in Seymour, Missouri, and departed this life October 24, 2023, at her home in Webb City, Missouri. She was 81 years, 9 months, and 9 days of age.

Rachel grew up in the Seymour area and attended grade school in a one-room schoolhouse, Burnett School. She attended high school and graduated from Seymour High School with the class of 1959. She said, “we never knew we were poor because we had so much-we grew our own food.” After graduation, she moved to Springfield, Missouri, and worked at a garment factory as a very accomplished seamstress. She then started a family and decided to become a homemaker for the next 18 years. After her daughter was grown, she worked in food preparation at McDonalds. She then worked as a cook at both the Joplin School System and St. John’s Hospital cafeteria in Joplin. She also worked as a home health aide for a short time before she retired.

After retirement, she spent more time doing the things she enjoyed. She loved working in her flower gardens and doing many types of crafts, including ceramics and painting. Some of her other hobbies included cooking and thrift store shopping. Rachel was baptized in 1967, and she was a member of the First General Baptist Church. Rachel was also a proud member of the Red Hat Club. She loved her two kitties, Sara and Sallie, and her greatest joy of all was spending time with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Besides her parents, she was preceded in death by two brothers, Jack Harris and Jimmy Harris, and one sister, May Jo Taylor.

Rachel is survived by her daughter, Eugenia Billings and her husband, Malcolm, three grandchildren, Johnathan, Ethan, and Katie, ten great-grandchildren, Evan, Brooklynn, Zander, Brenya, Rose, Emma, Abel, Aurora, Lyric, and Kylie, one brother-in-law, Bill Taylor, and many nephews, nieces, and extended family who will miss her.