Betty Jean Sessions Klacsmann

January 13, 2016

Miss Betty Jean Sessions Klacsmann, 75, of Jay, passed away peacefully surrounded by her sister, nieces and nephew on Wednesday, December 23, 2015, at West Florida Regional Medical Center in Pensacola after an extended illness.

Miss Klacsmann was born October 26,1940, in Jay, to the late J.C. and Oma Lisa (Simmons) Sessions. One of nine children, she was a graduate of Jay High School and went to work for Lockheed Missile and Space Corporation at NASA in the late 60s where she worked with her husband in Mission Control at the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral during the height of the U.S. Space Program. She was on duty the morning of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster January 28, 1986. The loss of the Challenger crew affected her deeply, as NASA was like a family to her. She and her husband also owned Data Processing Techniques and Services Corporation in Cocoa Beach, FL for many years.

Betty was an extremely creative and resourceful person. A very private person, she was a strikingly beautiful woman who declined a modeling career to serve her country. She had a love of sports cars, handmade quilts and a soft spot in her heart for Doberman Pinschers.

She was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Bruce E. Klacsmann; sisters, Dorothy Peters and Annette Pangburn; and two brothers, Joseph Edward Sessions and Donald Ray Sessions.

Betty is survived by her sister, Valeria Blackmon of Pensacola; three brothers, Riley Truman (Evelyn) Sessions of Gretna, LA, James Clinton (Grace) Sessions, Jr. of East Brewton and Clarence Ray (Virginia) Sessions of Jay; numerous nieces and nephews; and her beloved Doberman, Heidi.

The family expresses their grateful appreciation to the nurses and staff of the Intensive Care Unit at West Florida Regional Medical Center.

A private family memorial service was held Monday, December 28, 2015.

Interment was in the Cora Baptist Church Community Cemetery in Jay.

Funeral arrangements were under the direction of Jay Funeral Home.

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