Belynda Gay Yarbro Petty gained her angel wings Friday morning, April 7, 2023. She was 58 years old. For the past four years, Gay has put up a gallant fight against enormous odds, but peacefully died in her sleep around 8:00 a.m.
Gay was an elementary school teacher for 32 years. She loved each of “her little babies,” as she called them, as if they were her own. She retired from teaching in May 2019. Gay spent a lot of her spare time working out at Jackson Sport & Fitness with her “workout family.” It became a passion that brought her a whole new group of friends that she dearly loved. Gay would tell everyone that her most favorite day was the day she married her “for ever after” Richard, whom she affectionately referred to as “My Richard,” and she made sure that everyone knew that.
Gay and Richard loved to spend time traveling to the Gulf Coast and to the Caribbean with their favorite group of friends to just chill out. Gay loved and lived life to the fullest. She loved Dolly Parton, the color pink, bright colored clothes, fancy purses, and stylish shoes. To know her was to love her. The world needs more Belynda Gay Yarbro Petty’s! She will be missed!
Gay was preceded in death by her father, Bennie Floyd Yarbro of Decaturville, TN.
She is survived by her husband, Richard Petty of Jackson, TN; son, Hayden Chapman of Jackson, TN; mother, Alma Lee Yarbro of Decaturville, TN; sister, Avanda Lifsey (Don) of Brentwood, TN; brother, Dudley Yarbro (Ammie) of Decaturville, TN; step-son, Brian Scott Petty of Germantown, TN; step-daughters, Kayla Jane Petty (Kathie) of Dayton, OH and Lauren Larhue Petty of Johnson City, TN; nieces, Anna Yarbro of Decaturville, TN, Allison Yarbro of Decaturville, TN, and Katie Lifsey of Brentwood, TN; and nephews, Ben Yarbro of Decaturville, TN and Glayden Lifsey and Brad Lifsey of Nashville, TN.
SERVICES: A graveside service for Gay will be held 10:00 a.m. Thursday, April 13, 2023, at Concord United Methodist Church Cemetery, 715 Concord Road, Decaturville, TN 38329, with Rev. Jimmy Pearcy officiating. Friends and family are welcome.
The family will receive friends at Arrington Funeral Directors 5:00-7:00 p.m. Wednesday, April 12, 2023.
Arrington Funeral Directors, 148 W. University Pkwy., Jackson, TN 38305
731.668.1111 arringtonfuneralgroup.com