Jean Wiggs Ketchum

Jean Wiggs Ketchum passed away peacefully at Burton Court/Blakeford in Nashville, TN on Wednesday, January 4, 2023. A native of Chalybeate, Mississippi, Jean was born in Booneville, MS and was the only child in her family to be born in a hospital. Jean graduated from Chalybeate High School where she played basketball for 3 years and led her team to the quarter finals of the state championship. Jean graduated from Blue Mountain College with a B.A. in Commerce and was a member of the college basketball and tennis team as well as the Eunomian Society. After graduation she taught high school accounting for one year in Hickory Flat, MS, before moving to Washington, DC where her husband James E. Barber was stationed in the Marine Corp. While in D.C. she was one of two administrative assistants for 42 architects at the General Service Administration. Jean also lived in Greenville, MS, Memphis, TN and Nashville, TN where she played tennis, was a member of the New Neighbors League, and was a docent at Cheekwood. In 1980 she married Dr. Thomas Lowell Ketchum, Jr. of Ripley, MS and moved back to her home state of Mississippi. There she was a member of the Chalybeate Woman’s Club, the Ripley Civic League, Ripley Presbyterian Church, Ripley Presbyterian Women’s Circle, and the Ruby Seals Society. In 2015 Jean moved to Nashville to be with her daughter Betty Barber Anderson. Jean will always be remembered as a loving mother and grandmother who loved her family, and country deeply. She was a great cook who taught us cooking skills and how to take care of a cast iron skillet. Jean loved to travel, had a keen and inquisitive mind, a love of Ole Miss football and spent endless hours playing Monopoly and Sorry with her grandchildren. Jean was preceded in death by her husband Dr. Thomas Lowell Ketchum, Jr., parents Earl Marcus Wiggs and Myrtle Meeks Wiggs, her brother Earl Marcus Wiggs, Jr., and her sister, Louise Wiggs Elliott (R.G.) She is survived by her daughter Betty Barber Anderson (Fred), grandchildren James Stuart Anderson (Courtney) of Ft. Worth, TX, Sara Anderson Tynes (Blair) of Nashville, TN, sister-in-law Patti Wiggs, Barbara Elliott Adair (Jay), Donna Elliott Mowdy (Danny) Earl Marcus Wiggs, III (Rebecca), Hollis Wiggs (Lois), Joe Wiggs, Chris Wiggs (Holly), Beth Wiggs Kuykendall (Bill) of Ripley, MS and stepson David Lee Ketchum of Dallas, TX. The family would especially like to thank the staff at Burton Court in Nashville, TN for their kindness and care. In lieu of flowers contributions can be made to Ripley Presbyterian Church, PO Box 556, Ripley, MS 38663, Alive Hospice, or the charity of one’s choice. Pall bearers: Mark Wiggs, Hollis Wiggs, Dr. Joe Wiggs, Dr. Chris Wiggs, Bill Kuykendall, Blake Kuykendall.

Jean Wiggs Ketchum

July 30, 1929 - January 4, 2023