Betty Chowning

Betty Allen Chowning died on Tuesday September 19, 2017 at the age of 86. She is predeceased by her parents Lowell Clifton and Virginia Mae Allen; her husbands Herbert Gray Wyatt Sr and Carroll Clifford Chowning Jr and her eldest son Glen Allen Wyatt. She is survived by her daughter Jane Wyatt Mason, husband Al and children Wyatt Edward Mason (Mercede); Emilie Virginia Stuckey (Joshua) and Peyton Allen Mason, great grandson Andrew Larson Stuckey. And her son Herbert Gray Wyatt Jr, wife Teresa and step children Casey Elena Nemetz and Dylan Jackson Nemetz. Betty Mae, as many knew her, was born on March 17, 1931. She spent her childhood in Staunton, Va. and on the family farm in nearby Craigsville. She graduated from Stuart Hall and earned her degree at Winthrop College. From there she moved to Front Royal, Va. to begin her teaching career. It was here she met and married her first husband, Herbert in 1954, himself a teacher at Randolph Macon Academy. She put her teaching career on hold to raise a family and fill the role of faculty wife which she did with dedication. In 1962 she and her family moved to Christchurch, Va. where Herbert had taken a faculty position. After his death in 1965, she moved her family to Urbanna and resumed her teaching career at Middlesex Elementary School as a 5th Grade teacher. In 1966 she met and married her second husband, Carroll. That same year she moved to the high school to take over the Choral Dept. where she taught music and led the choir. In the latter years of her career, she served as Senior Sponsor. It is in these roles that she had her most profound impact on the lives of her students whom she lovingly referred to as “her children“. Under her guidance, many of these young lives were prepared to meet the challenges of life and to find its joys through music. In her tenure until her retirement in 1996, she taught and mentored children, their children and their grandchildren giving her a multi-generational influence that is felt to this day in Middlesex County. She was a devoted member of Christchurch Episcopal Church where she served as Choir Director and Organist for almost 50 years. She was also a member of the Altar Guild and ECW contributing her floral arrangements and her famous jams and jellies. Services will be held at Christchurch Episcopal Church on Saturday September 23 at 2pm. Memorial contributions may be made in her name to Christchurch Parish, P.O. Box 476 or the MHS Performing Arts Department, P.O. Box 206, both in Saluda, VA 23149. Arrangements by Faulkner Funeral Homes, Bristow-Faulkner Chapel, Saluda Va.