Bobbie Jean Laws

On April 20, 1949, Princella Tye of Cincinnati was blessed with the birth of Bobbie Jean. Father Clem Busemeyer baptized her at Saint Joseph Catholic Church. On April 26, 1969, he officiated at the Holy Mass wherein she and her best friend, the late George Laws began their 56 year marriage. As caregiver for George for the past seven years, it was never no with her.

To those of us who knew her well, Bobbie was Maya Angelou’s Phenomenal Woman and the ideal wife and mother in Proverbs 31:26-28. Bobbie was a loving, caring and giving Christian.

An alumna of Saint Joseph Grade School and Our Lady of Angels High School; Bobbie, Janice Fegan and Ceola Donald founded the Saint Joseph Alumni Association.

As an adult, she joined New Life Friendship Missionary Baptist Church. There she served as a young matron, usher, financial officer of the mission-ary society and financial secretary of the Cincinnati Chapter of the Charleston Day Organization.

Occupationally, she sold Mary Kay, worked as a bookkeeper at 5th Third Bank, and worked along-side her husband in the family business in the West End.

She was blessed with lifelong friendships with the Sisterhood of Saint Joseph (Diane, Lily, Henrietta, Ceola and Janice) and her Golden Girls (Cheryl and Joyce). They all loved to dance, play bid whiz cards, bowl and go to parties, especially their annual tea party. As one of her friends said, “When one of us was in need, she was there for us and we were there for her.”

An avid sports fan, she loved the Bengals and the Reds.

She was preceded in death by her great-grand-mother, Momma Adeline Smith; grandmother, Katie Smith; mother, Princella Tye; uncle/brothers, James Smith, Sr., William Smith, Sr. and Wallace Smith, Jr.; granddaughter, Mercedes Smith; and brother-in-law, Willie B. Laws.

Bobbie is survived by: her sons, Kevin and Shawn Laws; granddaughters, Mariyanna McClaine of Atlanta, Georgia and Ella Laws of Beavercreek, Ohio; siblings. Antonette Stevenson (Anthony), Yvette Tapplar (Larry), Vanessa Tye, Valerie Tye, Gloria Robinson, Prentess Flanagan, Sr. (Marilyn), Prince Kenneth Tye, Gregory Tye (Janice), Alvin Tye (Teresa) and Rodney Tye; special cousin, Iola Simms; caregiver, Nicole Lawrence and Michelle Akins, her caregiver, whom Bobbie and George considered their bonus child; and a host of nieces and nephews.

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