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Hernando Today

Upbeat Mom Mourned By Many

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By KYLE MARTIN Hernando Today

Published: January 10, 2008

SPRING HILL - Jeanine Bethoney didn't have much in the way of possessions.

She kept a modest house with her 3-year-old daughter and scraped by on her husband's income as a carpet cleaner.

But there was one material treasure in Bethoney's life, a bright blue '87 Pontiac Firebird with a T-top. It kept her on the road since high school 17 years ago.

On Saturday night, Jan. 5, the car was bringing her back home from a trip to Publix at U.S. 19 and Forest Oaks Boulevard. It was T-boned by another driver, who fled the scene cradling her 4-year-old daughter in her arms, according to authorities.

Authorities are waiting on a toxicology test before pressing charges against that driver, Barbara Diffendal. Bethoney was taken to Oak Hill Hospital where she died from her injuries. She was 34.

Because she was driving alone, it took several hours for authorities to track down her next of kin, husband Jamie Bethoney.

"He was frantic with worry," the victim's older brother, Brian Costello, said Wednesday. Even after the trooper delivered the news, "it didn't register, he couldn't believe it."

The next morning, 3-year-old Ariel woke up to find a house full of family members, but not her mother. She knew right away that something was wrong.

Costello was in the other room when the girl began asking, "Where's my Mommy?"

"It breaks your heart to hear that," he said.

Bethoney grew extremely ill several years and was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. The disease later calmed down, though symptoms occasionally flared up.

Doctors advised against her getting pregnant because it can speed up the progression of the ailment. But Bethoney ignored them and even skipped medication to avoid birth defects.

"Her priority was to have a child," Costello said.

As Ariel grew older, Bethoney made plans to begin working again as a medical assistant, a job she held in her native Massachusetts.

That money was to go towards enrolling Ariel in the preschool program at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church and ultimately a parochial school and college.

The church on Deltona Boulevard has since volunteered to waive the charge and admitted Ariel into classes.

Her love for family extended beyond Spring Hill. Her 91-year-old grandmother lives alone in Massachusetts and Bethoney would call every day to check on her.

The long-term effects of her generous nature became clear after her death as her childhood friends and family make plans to come down from Massachusetts to attend her funeral.

Costello was at a loss to pinpoint the one thing he would miss about his sister, but he finally settled on Bethoney's upbeat attitude.

"Even without much, she still had a great attitude in life," he said.

Service Times
Jeanine Bethoney's wake will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. and from 6 to 8 p.m. today at Pinecrest Funeral Chapel

The funeral starts at 11 a.m. Friday at St. Andrews Episcopal Church. The family has started a trust fund at Region's Bank for Ariel's education.

Reporter Kyle Martin can be reached at 352-544-5271 or

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