Obituaries

Betty Mae Thigpen, age 69, passed away on August 20, 2023 at St. Mary’s Hospital in Madison, WI. She was born on January 16, 1954 and raised in Harvey, Illinois. Betty was a devoted mother of five children as well as a songwriter, musician, poet, and singer. She attended Thornton Township High School in Harvey, Illinois. She was baptized at Greater Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church in Chicago, Illinois. She discovered her voice and love for music as a child. She had such an amazing voice that touched the hearts and songs of many, coming from a family background of many musical talents. Throughout her life, mom shared her voice at family gatherings, “you name it!”. Mom had a powerful and unique voice and would sing songs of her favorite artists such as Gladys Knight and Aretha Franklin’s Dr. Feel Good, her voice had the strength to shake a building. In the early 80’s, mom formed her own band named BMT Productions that performed at night clubs and other local events. Mom was a songwriter and poet who wrote many poems such as “’love’, ‘children’, ‘street gangs’, and ‘drugs’”. In the early 80’s, mom won first place with the editor’s choice awards for her poems “days of love”. In 1990-2002 mom received the highest recognition award from the International Library of Poetry for many of her poems including “love” and “laughter and forgetting”. In the early 80’s, mom did and editorial on channel 5 news station Chicago, Illinois to raise awareness about drugs and street gangs and had personal evolvement with programs such as the Dare Program which stood for Drug, Abuse, Resistance, and Education. To this day mom continued to write songs and poetry and share her voice and talents with her family and many. Betty is survived by her 5 children Kimberly Baker, Malinda Williams, Tyrone Thigpen, Catherine Clark, and Ronnie Thigpen; 11 siblings Ernest, Lenard, Robert, Catherine, Donnie, Joe Lewis, Thomas, twin brothers Tyrone and Jerome, Monica, and James; 19 grandkids Erica, Ashley, Evalynn, Jasmine, Ebony, Christopher, twins Crystal and Diamond, Demarrus, Jahmir, Meko, Ronnie Jr., Marquise, Alissia, twins Xavier and Julius, Arianna, Jenyia, and Serenity; 3 great grandkids Ava, Adari, and Catherine. She was preceded in death by her mom Malinda Mae Thigpen and her fathers Ernest Thigpen and Raymond Dumas; brothers Ernest and Leanard Thigpen; Uncle Tomas McGowan; niece Linlatrease Thigpen; and nephews Tony and Jerome Thigpen.

A funeral service will be held on Wednesday, September 6, 2023, at 3:30 p.m. at Ryan Funeral Home, 2418 N. Sherman Ave, Madison, with Pastor Jeremy Scott officiating. A visitation will be held on Wednesday at the funeral home from 1:30 until the time of service.

To view and sign this guestbook, please visit: www.ryanfuneralservice.com.

Ryan Funeral Home & Cremation Services

2418 N. Sherman Ave.

608-249-8257