NATCHEZ — Memorial services for Elizabeth Lee Hearon “Betty” Abbott, formerly of Natchez, will be at 2 p.m. Friday at First Presbyterian Church.

Visitation will be from 1 p.m. until service time Friday at the church in Stratton Chapel.

Arrangements were under the direction of Heavenly Grace Memorial Park in La Feria, Texas.

Betty was born June 23, 1923, in Harramin, Tenn., and grew up in Starkville where she met and married George William Abbott of Natchez. She made a life in Natchez and lived at Selma Plantation, teaching in the public schools, active in the First Presbyterian Church and tirelessly supporting her children in their various pursuits. She was an accomplished hostess, seamstress and cook and contributed to a number of community, professional and church organizations.

Betty moved to Greenville to be near her daughter and grandson and became a powerhouse of community volunteerism. Betty taught in the Greenville public schools. Upon retirement, she became a founder and the first program director of FEED, an interdenominational food distribution program for the needy. She worked with Literacy Council and tutored children throughout the city in reading and math. She worked with the Meals on Wheels, the Boy Scouts and the child development program at the First Presbyterian Church. She was an elder in the church and could be counted on to get things done. She was honored by the Greenville Chamber of Commerce as a Point of Pride.

Betty followed her daughter and grandchildren again to Denver, Colo., where she became a deacon in Corona Presbyterian Church, a church she chose for their community outreach work. She spent her final years in Rio Grande Valley, between her daughter’s home on Laguna Madre Bay in Port Mansfield, Texas and La Hacienda Healthcare Center in Harlingen, Texas.

Betty was preceded in death by her husband; one son, George William “Billy” Abbott Jr.; her parents, Clay Hamner Hearon and Mary Evelyn Jackson Hearon; two sisters, Mary Evelyn Scales and Norfleet Daniel Hearon Beebe; and one brother, Clay Hamner Hearon.

Survivors include one daughter, Mary Stowers Abbott; two grandsons, Olivio Piola Caselli and William Eric Abbott Hunt; one sister, Erin Hearon Wiltshire; and a number of nieces and nephews.

The family requests that in lieu of flowers, memorials be donated to the works of the Presbyterian Church, a lifelong venue for Betty’s energies.