It’s been about five months since Betty Absheer, Poplar Bluff’s first female mayor, passed away. But her impact on the city is still felt, especially by the four women who serve on Poplar Bluff’s city council.
“I would say if you talk to 100 people in Poplar Bluff, I would bet that 80 of them knew Betty Absheer,” said Lisa Armes Parson, the councilwoman of Ward 1. “The other 20 probably heard of her.”
Many people knew Betty through her numerous roles in service to the city of Poplar Bluff. She became the city’s first mayor in 1993 and served over 26 years on council, a city record, retiring in 2016. While Absheer is remembered for her service to community, she’s also commemorated as a wonderful friend. Whether through smaller acts of kindness or decades of support, Absheer touched the lives and political careers of all the women who serve on the council today.
Ward 2 Councilwoman Jerrica Fox has known Betty most of her life. From recruiting Fox to the Altrusa International Board to serving as her campaign treasurer, Fox said Betty was a source of guidance and support.
“In all aspects of our friendship, whether that be helping me politically or professionally or even personally, she always reached out… She was someone who always made sure that you knew that she was there,” said Fox.
Fox said Absheer not only encouraged her to join council her first time in 2015, but also encouraged her to run again for her current term when Fox was unsure.
“She said Poplar Bluff needs women like you, and I’m here to do whatever I can to help,” Fox said. “And so that was kind of all I needed to hear because I knew that she would never steer me wrong. And so I showed up the next day and filed and put my name on the ballot.”
Parson met Betty through The First Church of God about 35 years ago. As a friend and a mentor to her, Parson described Absheer as an “infectious, loving person.” Similar to Fox, when Parson was approached about running for council in 2019, she sought advice from Absheer who responded: “Oh, fantastic, I’ve been praying about that.”
Absheer served as the treasurer for Parson’s 2019 campaign, sitting outside with Parson all of election day despite being over 80 years old. Absheer would have served as Parson’s treasurer again during her most recent re-election campaign had she not passed away in the fall. Although Parson said she never had dreams of a political career, with Absheer’s initial encouragement, she got three years of city council under her belt, and she’s ready for three more.
Parson said she and Absheer called themselves “the Poplar Bluff Cheerleaders” because of their shared love for the city.
“If there was a pageant for Miss Poplar Bluff of the world that would be Betty Absheer,” Parson said. “She just exuded and loved Poplar Bluff and everything about it.”
Parson says she remembers Betty for her positivity and believes other people probably do too.
“I try to always see the good side in everything because the bad side jumps out,” Parson said. “You don’t have to look for it. So the positivity is what Betty left for me ... every time something kind of gets me down I’m like, what would Betty do in this situation?”
Ward 3 councilwoman Barbara Horton met Absheer when she moved to Poplar Bluff over 50 years ago and the two became friends as their paths crossed with Horton’s work at the Daily American Republic.
“She was a friend, as well as my councilwoman and my mayor,” Horton said.
Horton was approached about running for city council when Absheer retired as councilwoman of Ward 3. She spoke with Absheer about the decision, who advised her “to be honest with the constituents and true to myself.”
Horton said she’s always tried to follow in the footsteps of Betty.
“What a lot of people didn’t know until Betty’s funeral was Betty quietly went about her job at the Housing Authority, worked at her church,” Horton said. “When the sheriff … needed to deputize a woman to help transport women prisoners back years ago, Betty quietly was deputized, carried a gun and a badge and nobody in the community knew … Whatever role she was asked to do, she did it and did it to the best of her abilities.”
Councilwoman at-large Chris Taylor said in an email she spoke with Absheer before and after the last election. Although Taylor did not know Absheer personally, like many she’s familiar with the impact the Poplar Bluffian has left behind: “She was a very wise women and all of us should try to be more like Ms. Betty and the legacy she left.”
Absheer’s service as the first female mayor and her support of individuals in the community paved the way for more women to be elected to city council.
“She always encouraged women to serve in the community, to have a voice in the community,” Parson said.
Four women currently serve on the council, which is a record for the city and means the majority of the council is women. Parson and Horton were each re-elected April 5 to new terms on the council.
“I think that Betty’s legacy of a woman serving on the city council has opened doors for women to serve,” Horton said. “And the community trusted Betty and that trust in Betty is what has helped us to be elected.”
Taylor wrote in an email that the female majority on the city council “speaks volumes.”
“The women on this council are both soft and strong and I think that’s what it takes, to be compassionate but also speak your mind,” Taylor wrote. “I also think it shows any young girl or woman that they can do it as well.”
Fox says it’s been nice to be a part of history serving as one of the four women that make up the female majority on the council.
“We kind of see men advance more than women, and so to be able to be on council with a woman majority I think is empowering. And I think only speaks to Betty kind of spearheading that from the beginning being our first mayor ... it just to me shows women across our community and even the younger generation that women can do just as much and be just as empowering and can help and be of service just as much as anyone else.”
Fox reminisced that Absheer was able to see the growth from one woman on city council to four: “I think that I can easily say that she’s proud of what we as women have been able to accomplish in the city of Poplar Bluff.”
In reference to this story, Fox said that it was important to continue to honor Absheer for the contribution she’d made to Poplar Bluff because “it really all started with her.”