Jennie Elizabeth(Betty) Skokos

Jennie Elizabeth (Betty) Campbell Skokos passed away Monday, March 14th 2016 in Fort Smith. She was born August 17, 1921 in Van Buren, Arkansas to Frank Leslie Campbell Sr. and Mamie Lorena Paine Campbell (affectionately known to her grandchildren as "Mama Lora." She was preceded in death by her brothers, Robert Paine Campbell, Sr. of Muskogee, Oklahoma and Frank Leslie Campbell, Jr. of Dallas, Texas. She graduated from Van Buren High School in 1939, winning first place in piano competitions at the local district levels, and becoming state champion her senior year. She taught public school music in DeQueen, Arkansas for two years, before receiving her B.S. from the University of Oklahoma. Later in life she got an M.S. with a specialty in reading from the University of Arkansas, and taught for two years in Van Buren. She served as a naval officer in the WAVES (women accepted for voluntary emergency service). She received officer training at Smith College in North Hampton, Massachusetts, and specialized training in communications at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts. As an ensign in the Navy, her first assignment was to Philadelphia naval base in the classified section of communications (i.e. code room). She said, "We were the first to know the good news and, unfortunately, the first to know the bad news." They had pistol practice once a week. Since the admiral's office was downtown Philadelphia, it was necessary to guard the message en route to his office. "Pistol Packin' Mama" was number one on the "Hit Parade," so the officer often had a chorus singing to her on the subway. It was in Philadelphia that she met and married her husband, Dr. Ted Skokos, who was in his last year at the University oF Pennsylvania Dental School. She was a trendsetter, achieving notoriety in newspaper cover stories, for salvaging architectural pieces from stately homes being demolished and incorporating them into her own. In Fort Smith she served as president of the Park Hill Garden Club, vice president of Junior Civic League, vice chairman and rodeo chairman of Sparks Guild, on the Board of Stewards at First United Methodist Church and playing piano as a member of the Aldersgate Sunday school class past her 93rd birthday, president of PEO Sisterhood, Chapter AS, vice president of the Women's Society of Christian Service, president of the Fort Smith Dental Auxiliary, president of Northwest Arkansas Dental Auxiliary, and the elected Arkansas State Delegate to the National convention of Dental Auxiliaries in New York City, and she was active in numerous other civic organizations. She is survived by her husband Dr. Ted Skokos: and five children: Ted C. Skokos and his wife Shannon of Dallas, Texas, Leslie Cange and her husband Bill of Greers Ferry, Ark., Dr. Kemp Skokos and his wife Tawnya of Little Rock, Ark., Doug Skokos of Fort Smith, and Stacia (Shuggie) Peebles and her husband Brent of Decatur, Ala.; 10 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren. Funeral service will be Friday, March 18, 2016 at 11 a.m. in the First United Methodist Church with private burial to follow in the Alma City Cemetery all under the direction of Edwards Funeral Home. The family will greet friends at Edwards Funeral Home on Thursday from 5-7 p.m. Memorials may be made to Fort Smith Museum of History, 320 Rogers Avenue, Fort Smith, Ark. 72901. To sign an online guestbook visit www.edwardsfuneralhome.com.