Bette Barron Remembered

Editor's Note: The death of Bette Barron over the weekend reminded me of a great story that Fred Huff wrote during Du Quoin's Sesquicentennial celebration in 2003 about downtown Du Quoin's two First Ladies. Virginia Sawyer moved from Du Quoin to be closer to family years after her retirement. I hope you enjoy a reprint of this story.

--John H. Croessman

Together, two of Du Quoin's loveliest ladies - Bette Barron and Virginia Sawyer - spent more than a half-century on Main Street operating family businesses. And their memories are many.

"I remember having a hard time convincing salesmen that I was the owner of a men's clothing store," Bette said, while Virginia, who is far better known as 'Ginny', recalled that the years "spent in the paint store were just like a big family outing with guys like Kenny House, Bob Henderson, Charles Petry and Bill Ivy next to us."

Let's look at them, however, one at a time.

"Phil, my husband, always said he'd like to own Werner's some day," Bette said. "I remember we lived in West Frankfort for a short time and every time we'd come back home for a visit and drive down Main Street, he'd say it again that he'd like to own Werner's.

"He had even talked to Joe about it after Joe's brother, Zig, died in the mid-1950s. I remember I was helping out in my father's paint store on West Main Street one day when Joe called and said he'd like to talk with us. It was a big surprise, but it didn't take much persuasion. We took over March 1, 1956. "Initially I was only going to work a few years, but Phil died suddenly three years later, almost to the day, and I was forced to take over then as I had a family to raise.

"I was lucky in being able to talk J.V. Walker into working for me. He was a classmate in school and a good friend. He knew everyone and was well-liked so I was fortunate in getting him away from Vallie Boyd's business where he had been working.

"Business was good. We had a good line of men's clothes and the Werners had developed a lot of good friends and customers. Several years later, however, the (Du Quoin State) bank, which owned the building we occupied, needed to expand and we moved. Fortunately J.V. Walkers, just across the street, was closing and we were able to move into that building. My daughter, Barbara, and I cleaned and painted while J.V. (no relation) ran the store. It was a good move and business got even better until we decided to sell in 1980 to Babe Hill.

"It was just time, even though I had enjoyed running the store. It kept me busy all the time and allowed me to raise my family and I always did believe men's clothes were nicer than women's things," she added.

The Sawyer story is similar in some respects and yet it's different. The one common thread is that both Bette and Ginny enjoyed their relationships with literally hundreds of Du Quoin's citizens.

Ginny said, "My husband, Bob, and I bought the paint store back after having sold it in the 1960s and going to work for Bob's brother, George, in Carbondale for a few years. Bob's father, William, had first started the store in 1933 and we had both worked in it at different times. After their father died a few years later, Bob and George ran the store until after the war when George started a store in Carbondale. So we took over the Du Quoin store again.

"It was good to get back into the Du Quoin store, however, as our business neighbors were just like family. 'Housie' (Ken House) behind us in his cleaning store, Bob Henderson next to us in the Economy, Charles Petry across the alley and Bill Ivy running the show all became great friends. We enjoyed one another's company and helped each other out. If we did a favor for Bill Ivy during the week, we could expect a big bag of popcorn from him Saturday evening.

"The coffee pot was always on early in the morning and we had a couch in the back room where all of the painters in town knew they were welcome to spend a few minutes before starting their day's work."

"We could always count on having Percy Smith every morning as well as Jerry, Rod and Cliff Lively, the King brothers, David Graham and his sons."

"Things started to change in the 1980s, however. A few businesses closed in downtown and there were some empty buildings," Ginny added. And, just like Bette, the time came when stepping down became the right thing to do. Both agreed, however, that friends and customers on Du Quoin's Main Street made it all worth while.