Betty Smith Parker

OBITUARY FOR BETTY SMITH PARKER


Betty Smith Parker, 83, of Quitman, died Monday, May 7, 2007, at the Presbyterian Home in Quitman following her beloved Jack by six weeks. Born in Chattanooga, TN in 1923 to the late Julius Edward Smith, Sr., and Grace Coker Smith, she had lived in Quitman for the past six years and was formerly of Punta Gorda, FL and Marietta. Mrs. Parker worked as a secretary for Lockheed Aircraft in Marietta for 17 years, and she and her family were charter members of Powers Ferry United Methodist Church and contributed the first organ to that church. She went on to be a member at Friendship Methodist Church in Punta Gorda, FL.

Falling in love in her teens with tall, good looking Jack Parker, who towered over her by a good foot, Betty spent World War II wearing his engagement ring, taking shorthand and typing, and waiting for Jack to come home from the Pacific. When she was 22, her soldier returned and in two weeks they were married. This January they celebrated their sixty-first anniversary.

A lovely, loving woman, she was completely without pretense and asked nothing of her friends except that they just be. Beyond her open door was always warmth and welcome, good food, and a gentle listener.

Survivors include her three daughters and two sons-in-law, Janice Elizabeth Kern of Laguna Niguel, CA; Marie and Leon Weeks of Valdosta; Cathy and Jack Raney of Marietta; a brother, J. Edward Smith, Jr., of Largo, FL. Also surviving are 5 grandchildren: Meghan Kern of Laguna Niguel, CA; Kevin (Stephanie) Weeks, of Jupiter, FL; Deanna Raney, Amber Raney, and Lindsey Raney, all of Marietta. She is preceded in death by a sister, Frances Evelyn Allen.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, May 12, 2007, at 10 a.m. in the chapel of Powers Ferry United Methodist Church in Marietta. Rev. Norton Campbell will officiate. Burial of the cremains will follow on Sunday, May 13, 2007, at 2 p.m. at Garden of Memories Cemetery in Tampa, FL.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Presbyterian Hospice and Palliative Care, 301 E. Screven Street, Quitman, GA 31643 or the Powers Ferry UMC Organ Fund, 245 Powers Ferry Road, Marietta, GA 30067. Condolences may be conveyed to the family on the obituary page of www.mclanefuneralservices.com Carson McLane Funeral Home.


Funeral Home:
Carson McLane Funeral Home
2215 North Patterson Street
Valdosta, GA
US 31602