Bettie Kirby

Mrs. Bettie Kirby, 96, of Atwood died Tuesday, January 6, 2015, at Milan General Hospital. Services will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, January 10, 2015, at Mt. Olive Missionary Baptist Church Rev. Terry L. Fuller officiating. Interment will follow in the Church Cemetery. Visitation will begin at 11 a.m. on Saturday at the church. Bettie B. Kirby entered this life as Bettie B. Howard on April 18, 1918, to Mattie Willis in Tennessee. She was at the blessed age of ninety-six years. She was educated in Carroll County public schools. On December 25, 1945, Bettie B. married Tipper Kirby and remained married to him for twenty-seven years until his death in 1972. She became a Christian at an early age and served her Savior in the area church. When she and her husband moved to Atwood, Tennessee, she united with the Mt. Olive Baptist Church which she loved and attended weekly and served faithfully as a choir member, in the Missionary Society and on the Usher Board. Bettie B. worked on several jobs in many positions over the span of her life. She most enjoyed working as a cook. Later when her health began to fail, she had to live in a health care facility. She first lived in Huntingdon Health and Rehabilitation, Huntingdon, Tennessee and for the last several years, in NHC Healthcare Center, Milan, Tennessee, until she died. Although Bettie B. had one sibling, a sister, Captoria Porter, who preceded her in death, she looked upon her cousins J. W. and Walter Bryant, Sr. as her brothers. To all her nieces, nephews, cousins and friends and many others, she was known as “Aunt Bettie B.” She did not have biological children but she always claimed her nieces and nephews as “her children”. Most of us played the part and indeed enjoyed the benefits. “Aunt Bettie” was an avid cook and enjoyed feeding those who came to her house, from near or far. She will be sorely missed by all who knew her, most especially her family. Rest in peace, Aunt Bettie B., you have certainly earned your rest. She leaves to cherish her memory two nieces of St. Louis, Missouri, Nothala Goosby and Marva Louise Pegues; other nieces, nephews, great nieces, great nephews, great-great nieces, great-great nephews, cousins, the Mt. Olive Church family, friends and other relatives. Rawls Funeral Home – Paris 731-642-1515