Bettye Enlow Obituary

Bettye Ann McSwain Enlow, 92, passed away on October 5, 2023. She was born in Louisville, Kentucky to Lelia DeJarnette. She grew up in Jefferson County and attended the University of Louisville where she was a proud cheerleader for the Louisville Cardinals. She met her first husband, Dr. T. L. McSwain, while he was attending the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. After her marriage to T. L. McSwain, the two of them served multiple Baptist congregations as pastor and wife. Their first church was the local Southside Baptist Church where T. L. served while he completed his theological training. Then, they accepted the invitation to serve Third Baptist Church in Owensboro, Kentucky. From there, they and their three sons, Lawson, Steve, and Doug, moved to Paducah and Immanuel Baptist Church. Over their remaining years together, Bettye and T. L. lived in Richmond, Kentucky, serving First Baptist Church and during their service there, Bettye was elected the first female to serve as the Vice-President of the Kentucky Baptist Convention. Later, they moved to Louisville, KY, where T. L. served as pastor of Hurstbourne Baptist Church on Shelbyville Road. From Louisville, the two of them moved to Augusta, GA, and served Warren Baptist Church. T. L. and Bettye retired to Louisville and served Bethlehem Baptist Church as their last place of service. Bettye and T. L. were the proud parents of three boys, Lawson, Steve, and Doug. Bettye was a beautiful woman, maintaining her youthful and attractive appearance throughout her full and very active life. Her love of living every moment of life and her love of fashion was recognized by everyone who met her. Bettye was also an avid golfer, tennis player, loved dancing, and a good game of poker with friends at The Forum. However, one of her greatest enjoyments was watching games and supporting the UofL Cardinals, where she held season tickets to football and basketball games until her passing. In fact, despite her terminal illness that took her life only days later, she insisted on attending the UofL football game against Boston College, on Saturday, September 23. Early in their life together, Bettye, an entrepreneur in her own right, started a tour company, planning and leading trips abroad for literally decades. She became quite successful in her travel planning and tour leading, taking groups of travelers to Europe, Scandinavia, and the Middle East multiple times, including countries in the Near East, Far East, as well as China, Japan, Russia, Africa, South America, and beyond. She coordinated, planned, and led these tours year after year, and her three proud sons will always be grateful for her determination to include them on as many trips as possible. Bettye was also a real estate agent. When T. L. McSwain passed in the fall of 1994, Bettye met and married Jim Lovorn. Following his death, Bettye attended an annual meeting of the Kentucky Baptist Convention, where she met and later married Dr. Eugene Enlow. The two of them continued traveling and sharing life together for several years. In the last few years, and following Dr. Enlow's passing, Bettye became a resident of The Forum at Brookside, where she continued living life to the fullest. While at The Forum, Bettye met her last love in this life, Leo Wright. The two of them have shared many laughs together, and lots of day trips, nights dancing, and lots of love. Bettye is predeceased by T. L. McSwain, Jim Lovorn, and Eugene Enlow. Bettye is survived by her sons, Lawson McSwain (Sue Ann), Steve McSwain (Pam), and Doug McSwain (Nan); grandchildren Brian McSwain (Anna), Ann Marie McSwain, Lauren McSwain-Starrett (Bryan), Kate McSwain, Jonathan McSwain (Jasmine), Michelle McSwain-Tepper (Adam), Phillip Orr (Amee), and Allison McGarry (Aaron); and great grandchildren Connor McSwain, Dyllan McSwain, Ari Eastman, Caspian Tepper, Mariah Tepper, Mason Blain, Charlie Orr, Hannah Orr, Payton Orr, Delaney McGarry, Henry McGarry, Caroline Starrett, and Josephine Starrett. Visitation will be Sunday, October 8th from 1-6pm at Highlands Funeral Home, 3331 Taylorsville Rd. Funeral Service will be 11am Monday at the funeral home with burial to follow at Cave Hill Cemetery.