Bettye C. Ligon

Bettye Carol Ligon was born on February 9, 1946, to Daisy and Marshall G. Ligon in Good Samaritan Hospital.  Bettye attended Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools and graduated from West Charlotte High School.  She attended two years of college at Johnson C. Smith University and was a member of the youth missionary group at Friendship Missionary Baptist Church where she was also a member.

Her time serving as a junior missionary jumpstarted her career in human services. Bettye’s first job was at Teen Age Pregnancy Services where she supported teen mothers in the position of an Intake counselor.  She moved into a position with the Drug Education Center.   Bettye was blessed with the gift of working with teens and people in need.  Continuing this career path, Bettye had the opportunity to travel around the country working with the Quakers in impoverished communities in Pennsylvania, Save the Children in Arkansas before settling down in Atlanta, Ga.  After settling down in Atlanta she worked for the Private Industry Council, Georgia State University in the student employment department, and before leaving Fulton County Park and Recreation on disability.  Bettye remained busy after she stopped working by being an advocate for herself and other seniors by serving on her HOA’s advisory board.

Bettye was dedicated to her family and was the first to come home to attend to her sisters without hesitation.   She was preceded in death by her parents, her siblings Marshall (Jeeba) Ligon, Jr., George Ray (Smokey) Ligon, Coleman Ligon, James Lewis Ligon, Johnny Robert (Red) Ligon, L.C. (Bunkey) Ligon and Edith Shearin.  She is survived by her sister Alice Ligon, her one and only son, Kevin Ligon (Jacqueline), two granddaughters, K’Nhya and Kamryn Ligon, and her Grandson-in-Love, Gabriel Brown.  During her battle her great grandson, Mercy, held the key to her heart and was her inspiration and source of strength during her sickness.  She made friends everywhere she went and will be missed by her extended friends in Atlanta, not to mention the number of other “children” in Atlanta who affectionately called her mom and “Miss Bettye”.