Betty Lou

Betty Lou on the porch of her natal home with grandmother Ethel Leake Scruggs
Following his death in 1905, John Wesley Scruggs’ widow, Ethel, moved from the northeast corner of the Woolen Mills neighborhood to Market Street.
Pictured above, Ethel and her granddaughter, Betty Lou.
Ethel was a weaver at the Woolen Mills. Ethel is buried in Riverview cemetery.
Ethel’s grand-daughter, Betty Lou (above center) was born in 1932, daughter of Lucian and Virginia Hall Scruggs.
Betty Lou attended the Woolen Mills School.
Betty Lou loved her church, her community, her family, her friends and her neighborhood and they loved her
Betty Lou was solid as a rock, a straight-shooter. She lived in her house for 88 years. Betty Lou died Sunday night.
She will be missed.

obituary

Author: WmX

I stumbled off the track to success in 1968, started chasing shadows that summer. Since then, In addition to farm-laborer and newspaper photographer my occupational incarnations include dishwasher, janitor, retail photo clerk, plumber, HVAC repairman, auto mechanic, CAT scan technologist, computer worker and politico (whatever it takes to buy a camera.) I am on the road to understanding black and white photography.

3 thoughts on “Betty Lou”

  1. What a generation….staying put, and making your mark in an ordinary way…gardening, baking pies and cakes, knowing your neighbors. What a wonderful history. Thanks, Carolyn

  2. Bill, thank you for these beautiful memories and images of our Betty Lou. She was one in a million.

    She told me once that when she was very little her grandfather was pacing on his porch with his hands clasped behind him, worried about a sick family member. Betty Lou got behind him with her hands clasped behind her back and paced, too.

    When Mr. Preddy, Elva Preddy’s father, lived in our house, she would join him on the porch swing and talk over the world.

    She loved hummingbirds, snowmen and Florida, where she and her mom vacationed every year, Betty Lou driving them down and back. They thought they might move there. And she loved to eat “SALLLLLLLLMON.” And she “cut” her furnace on and off. It always sounded very powerful.

    May she rest in peace and may perpetual light shine upon her. Amen.

    Kate (Burke)

  3. Bill,
    Thanks for posting these sweet pictures. We always enjoyed talking with Betty when she stopped by our home while on her walks around our neighborhood. Even though we haven’t been able to attend many neighborhood gatherings, it was really nice to go to a few hosted by Betty and her neighbors across the street, Jim and Michelle. She always made sure we knew about them and that we were invited. It is one of the things that made us feel at home when we first moved here in 1995.

    Again, thanks for posting this.
    Donna

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