BETSY R. MARTIN
June 5, 1928-March 22, 2008
MOUNT OLIVE -- Betsy Raper Martin, 79, passed away Saturday at Kitty Askins Hospice in Goldsboro, N.C. Born in Lexington, Davidson County, N.C., she was the daughter of the late William E. Raper and the late Annie Mae Hatch Raper.
After graduating from Lexington High School, she received her B.A. degree in primary education from Woman's College at Greensboro, N.C., where she was vice-president of the Aletheian Society. She taught first grade in St. Petersburg, Fla., Seven Springs, Brogden and Carver Elementary in North Carolina, then retired from teaching after almost 30 years. Her greatest pleasure was teaching children. She was often recognized and warmly greeted by former students. She had a lifelong love for the ocean and Topsail Beach. She earned her Red Cross Life Saver Badge in high school and was still swimming laps in the ocean at age 60. She found much enjoyment from growing flowers. She was a member of the First United Methodist Church of Mount Olive and was a former choir member.
She was preceded in death by her husband, June Martin Jr.; a sister, Lillian Raper Bailey; and special grandson, Will Capel.
Her survivors include two children, a son, Ernest June Martin III of Champaign, Ill.; and a daughter, Patricia M. Eden and husband, Robert S. Eden, of Houston, Texas; three grandsons, Richard Alan Basden and wife, Jennifer Lavender Basden, of Dallas, Texas, William Brian Basden and wife, Debbie Jeter Basden, of Raleigh, N.C., Christopher Robert Eden and Hannah Allen of Orlando, Fla.; five great-grandchildren, Jacob David and Joshua Jeter Basden of Raleigh, N.C., Wilson Alan and Alessia June Basden of Dallas, Texas, Wesley Allen Eden of Orlando, Fla.; a sister-in-law, Catherine Ann Lewis; and a nephew, Harry W. Lewis III of Durham, N.C.; close cousins, Mary Hatch Harper and family of Mount Olive, N.C.; friend, Bill Capel of Champaign, Ill., and many good neighbors and friends.
Visitation will be at Tyndall Funeral Home on Tuesday, March 25, from 6 until 8 p.m. A graveside service will be on Wednesday, March 26, at 11 a.m. at Maplewood Cemetery in Mount Olive, N.C.
Memorials may be made to First United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 420, Mount Olive, N.C. 28365 or Kitty Askins Hospice Center, 2402 Wayne Memorial Drive, Goldsboro, N.C. 27534.
A Tyndall Service.
(Pd)
Published in Obituaries on March 24, 2008 2:08 PM