Bettye Brown

View Video TributeBettye Belle Underwood Brown died unexpectedly at her home in the Bear Creek community where she lived for seventy of her seventy-nine years. She had just celebrated her 79th birthday on September 18th. She was a farmer at heart and loved watching her cows, fixing fences and gardening. The Lord had blessed her with good health and energy until He called her home on September 29th, to join the love of her life, Norman. Funeral services will be conducted Wednesday at 1:30 P.M. at Oakes & Nichols Funeral Home with Carl May officiating. Burial will follow in Jones Cemetery. The family will visit with friends Tuesday from 4:00 - 8:00 P.M. and Wednesday after 12:00 noon at the funeral home. Condolences may be extended online at www.oakesandnichols.com. Mrs. Brown attended Beechland School and enjoyed getting together with other women who also attended Beechland. She graduated from Central High School in Columbia in 1953, one of the top ten, and still enjoyed socializing with former classmates. On December 5, 1953, she married the late Norman Floyd Brown. One of the highlights of her life was celebrating their fifty-year anniversary in 2003; Norman died in 2007 and she missed him every day. Mrs. Brown was the daughter of the late Malcolm and Elizabeth Hunter Underwood and was the genealogist of the Hunter clan of Bear Creek Pike. She organized the Hunter Family Reunion for years and loved being able to share whatever new family connections she had found. Genealogy was her passion; she had also researched her husband's family line. Her children have 'fond' memories of being dragged to old cemeteries across the state and out. Being an only child, Bettye Belle was very close to her Hunter first cousins and thought of them as her brothers and sisters. Mrs. Brown attended the Berea Church of Christ her entire life, a congregation of which her parents were founding members; she loved this church and its members. She was known for her quilting, crocheting, and handiwork. She made sure all her descendents had some of her handiwork to remember her by and there have been untold new babies in the community who received her crocheted booties or afghans. She loved being a mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. She is survived by her four children, Belinda (Hal) Holcomb, Beverly Richardson, and Michael Brown, all of Columbia, and Bobby (Sharon) Brown of Franklin; grandchildren, Amanda (Jermy) Cothran, Rebecca (Jeff) Parks, Sarah (David) Inch, Chris Brown, Cody (Tori) Brown, and Megan (Tracy Davis) Brown, Elizabeth and Kaitlin Brown, Emily (Anthony) Gleghorn, Spencer and Noah Richardson; ten great-grandchildren; one sister-in-law, Olivia Lunn; and niece, Suzanne Cheatham. In addition to her parents and husband, she was preceded in death by her brother-in-law, Stacy Lunn, and nephew, David Lunn. Active pallbearers will be Spencer and Noah Richardson, Jermy Cothran, David Inch, Jeff Parks, Chris and Cody Brown, Tracy Davis, and Anthony Gleghorn. Honorary pallbearers will be members of Berea Church of Christ and her Beechland School classmates. Jones Cemetery had a special spot in her heart; she served many years on the preservation committee for the cemetery and many hours at the cemetery itself helping with the yearly decoration service. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Jones Cemetery, c/o Barbara Harmon, 2036 North Lasea Road, Spring Hill, TN 37174.