Quetha Jo (Bell) Lacy, 77, of Arlington passed away on November 20, 2016, at Autumn Leaves of Arlington after a lengthy battle with dementia. Funeral services will be held at 2:00 pm Friday, on November 25, 2016, in Aubrey, Texas, at the Ever After Chapel (formerly First Baptist Church), 201 North Main Street, with Dr. Rod Taylor officiating. Burial will follow in Denton's Roselawn Memorial Park under the direction of the Mulkey-Mason Funeral Home of Denton, Texas.

The family has requested that, in lieu of flowers, those wishing to do so make a contribution in Jo's memory for children's books to the Aubrey Area Library, 226 Countryside Drive, Aubrey, Texas 76227. Jo was born January 05, 1939, in Denton to George and Opal Bell of Aubrey. She attended public schools in Aubrey and Denton and received B.S. (1959) and M. Ed. (1962) degrees from University of North Texas. Jo married Dallas Lacy in Denton on June 23, 1962. Jo taught at the Richardson Heights Elementary school (1959-60), at the North Texas University Laboratory School (1960-61), and at the St. James Episcopal School in Baton Rouge, LA, (1963-4). In the fall of 1977 Jo was the first teacher of Children's Literature classes at the University of Texas at Arlington and continued teaching as an adjunct instructor in the Department of English through the spring of 2001. Jo was nominated by the UTA College of Liberal Arts for the 1999-2000 university Provost's Teaching Award.

From 1965 to the present, Jo was a member of Arlington's First Baptist Church and for many years taught Sunday School classes that ranged from five-year-olds to senior adults. Jo published articles, stories, and craft ideas in Baptist journals, i.e. Living with Children, Home Life, Crusader, and Crusader Counselor , and authored Life Is a Gift , a book published in 1987 by the New Hope Press.

Jo was preceded in death by her parents, George and Opal Bell, and by her daughter, Jane Elizabeth Lacy. Jo is survived by husband Dallas Lacy of Arlington; by sons John Lacy and John's wife, Jenny Craik, of Albany, CA, and Jim Lacy and Jim's wife, Katharina Lacy, of Hamburg, Germany; by granddaughter Emily Opal Craik-Lacy of Albany, CA; by brother James Ledon Bell and James's wife, Yvonne Bell, of the Green Valley Community; by sister Jane Ray of the Green Valley Community; by nieces Melody Mitchell of Grover Beach, CA, Jo Allison Box and Allison'shusband, Steve Box, of Dallas, and Jamie Cole and Jamie's husband, Clark Cole, of Weatherford; and by great-nieces/nephews Stephanie (Box) O'Neil, Alexa Box, Blake Box, Whitney Box, Tyler Cole, Mary-Robin Cole, Abby Cole, and Grace McCleskey.

The family would like to thank the staff members and the care givers of Autumn Leaves of Arlington for the care and attention bestowed on Jo from early 2014 to the present. The family would also like to thank the care givers of Encompass Hospice of Fort Worth for the additional health care services brought to Jo during the past six months. E. B. White's Charlotte's Web was one of Jo's favorite books. In looking over the final paragraph of the book, family members were impressed with the degree to which Wilbur's tribute to Charlotte also seemed appropriate for Jo: " She was in a class by herself. It is not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer. "