Betsy Bird Anderson

View Funeral Webcast Betsy Bird Anderson, 88, resident of Mt. Pleasant and retired Maury County teacher, died Saturday, July 4, 2015 at Williamson Medical Center. Funeral services will be conducted Tuesday at 2:00 p.m. at First United Methodist Church in Mt. Pleasant with Rev. Gary Wedgewood and Rev. Woody Wiggins officiating. Burial will follow in Arlington Cemetery in Mt. Pleasant. The family will visit with friends Monday from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. at Oakes & Nichols and after 1:00 p.m. Tuesday at the church. The family suggests memorials to the George Anderson Sunday School Class of First United Methodist Church of Mt. Pleasant. Condolences may be extended at www.oakesandnichols.com. A fifth generation Floridian, she was born December 26, 1926 at Treelawn Plantation in Monticello, Florida. Her parents were the late Preston Brooks Bird and Louise Rast Bird; her stepfather was Sloan Morris, all of Monticello. Betsy graduated from Monticello High School, the oldest brick school building in the State of Florida. After high school, she entered Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida. At FSU, she was a member of Alpha Gamma Delta social sorority and Zeta Phi Eta speech and drama honorary fraternity. She was quite active in college: member of the college Senate, President of her sorority, in Drama department productions, and elected by the student body to be in the May Court. She graduated in 1948 with an AB degree in Speech and Theatre. After graduation, she married George Hilliard Anderson of Monticello on September 15, 1948. George had served in the Pacific Theatre of World War II. After he graduated from FSU in 1949, they moved back to Monticello to live. Betsy taught Seniors in Drama and Speech at Leon High School in Tallahassee, produced and directed the first two of many plays in her teaching career. Betsy said of George that she never dreamed she was marrying a politician (serving in the Florida Legislature) who would later become a minister (in the United Methodist Church). In 1963, the Andersons moved to Murfreesboro, TN. Betsy attended Middle Tennessee State University and earned a Masters degree. George entered Vanderbilt University Divinity School and became a minister in the United Methodist Church.Betsy taught Speech and Drama at Central High School in Murfreesboro. This was the first of three high schools where she taught as well as produced and directed plays. While in Murfreesboro, she was asked by the Board of Education to take a new kind of English class. This was the beginning of the Title I program, designed for students who were struggling. Beginning in ninth grade, two classes that Mrs. Anderson taught for all four years achieved much success in their reading skills. These classes were observed by teachers from all over the state. Betsy spoke of the program in many in-service training days as well as on educational television.In 1971, Betsy moved to Hendersonville High School. While there, her students won many awards at the Smokey Mountain Forensic League and at other high school competitions. She produced a Medieval Banquet each year. Her Senior English classes researched the period thoroughly. The unit ended with an authentic banquet with food, costumes, and pageantry of the era. Moving to Columbia, TN in 1976, Mrs. Anderson began teaching at Columbia Central High School. She taught there until her retirement in 1990. While at Central, many of the plays she directed and produced are fondly remembered by the many students who took part in them. Portia Lea and Kirk Whiteside contributed to the success of the musicals. Betsy was in the first group of teachers to be evaluated for the Master Teacher program for the state's better schools. She was the first female teacher to attain Level Three of the Career Ladder with six male teachers named as Master Teachers.In addition to Drama in school settings, Mrs. Anderson wrote and directed many Church plays. The Homecoming '86 play was revised and produced by Betsy, utilizing over one hundred residents of Mount Pleasant. At age 85, she directed a re-enactment of the Last Supper for the Maundy Thursday service at the First United Methodist Church in Mount Pleasant.She produced over 275 school, church and community plays in her lifetime. While at Columbia Central High School, she was named as Teacher of the Year and later as Maury County Teacher of the Year in 1979. In her eighties, she was telling Christmas stories at the Students Club each year.She was a member of the First United Methodist Church and was active in all aspects until recently. Community affiliations include: James K. Polk Association, the Association for the Preservation of Tennessee Antiquities, the Students Club (oldest book club in Tennessee), Alpha Delta Kappa honorary teacher sorority, and the Maury County Retired Teachers Association.Betsy enjoyed traveling to foreign countries, assisting Marise Lightfoot in various trips, taking students to both Europe and Australia. She wrote poetry and often read the eulogy at friends' funerals. She also wrote numerous plays and stories. She was preceded in death by her husband, Reverend George Hilliard Anderson November 16, 1989; daughter, Carolina Preston Harlan; and sister, Maria Bird Chamberlin. eight aunts, and ten cousins. Betsy was the last of the Bird family. Mrs. Anderson is survived by her daughters and sons-in-law, Cindy (Richard) Anderson of Nashville, Susan (Woody) Wiggins of Lake Junaluska, NC; Ed Harlan of Columbia; grandchildren, Eli (Sara) Wiggins of Seattle, WA; Rebekah Wiggins of Asheville, NC; Rebekah (Nathaniel) Wright, and Caroline (Jonathan) Holt of Nashville; Katy (Taylor) Clement of St. Louis, MO; U. S. Navy Lt. Andy (Meghan) Harlan of Bloomington, IN; Caroline (Steven) Castellaw of Greenville, SC.; great-grandchildren, Anna Walton, Olivia, Isaac, Caleb Wright of Nashville, TN; Felice Wiggins of Seattle, WA; Anderson Clement of St. Louis, MO; Brooks Holt of Nashville; her only nephew, Lloyd William (Rindy) Chamberlin of Tampa, FL and his children, David Chamberlin (Lori) and Elizabeth Schengold (Ryan) of Tampa, FL. Her extended family includes Vance Brummal of Mt. Pleasant and wonderful friend and helper, Patricia McClanahan of Mt. Pleasant. Active pallbearers are former students, David Hall, Jr.; Barrow Lynn; Mike Bryan; Jay Green; Mark Hines, Patrick Harlan. Honorary Pallbearers include Dr. Tony Smith; Matt Schultz; Mark Walter; Mike Parrott; Mark Benderman; Hal Landers, Jr.; Mike Malone, Mac Orr; former faculty members at Columbia Central High School who taught with Betsy; members of the Students Club; members of her Bridge clubs; members of the George Anderson Sunday School class; and members of the First United Methodist Church of Mount Pleasant.