Betty Jane Weldon

Published 9:55 am Thursday, January 13, 2022

Betty Jane Weldon was born in Fairfield County, South Carolina on April 5, 1939. She entered into eternal rest on Dec. 23, in Columbia, South Carolina. She was the eleventh child born to the union of Willie and Bertha (Rabb) Weldon.

Betty Jane was educated in the public schools of Fairfield County, graduating from the newly established McCrorey-Liston High School in 1958. She received her A.B. degree from Benedict College in Columbia, South Carolina in 1963 and later completed her M.S. degree in Early Education Administration from Longwood College in Farmville.

Teaching was one of Betty Jane’s passions from an early age. She began her career as an elementary school teacher in Warrenton, Georgia before moving to Charlotte Court House, where she accepted a position as a third-grade teacher at Drakes Branch Elementary School during its first year of integration. She later taught at Bacon District Elementary School in Saxe and Central Elementary School in Charlotte Court House. She also served as Projects Director, Supervisor of the Media Center and Coordinator of the Chapter I program for Reading Instruction at the Charlotte County School Board Office before taking early retirement from the Charlotte County public schools at the age of 55.

Betty Jane fell in love with Charlotte Court House—a southern rural town that shared much in common with the Fairfield County community she grew up in. She was a Girl Scout leader, an active member of the Charlotte County Education Association, the NAACP, the Charlotte County Democratic Party and the Retired Teacher’s Association. She also served as an elder and session member of the Gethsemane Presbyterian Church in Drakes Branch, where she sang on the choir and participated in the Gethsemane Presbyterian Women’s group.

As the family historian, Betty Jane meticulously traced the roots of her family tree from the “Big House” in Jackson Creek, where her sharecropper parents first got married, to Jenkinsville, and ultimately to the Greenbrier Community where they bought the “old Walter McKintry Plantation” and built their home. Family reunions were enriched by the many pictures and heirlooms that she collected and the many stories that she shared. She was the primary caregiver for her mother, Bertha, and oldest sister, Marjorie, in their final years. And the entire family was blessed by her vibrant spirit and zest for life.

Betty Jane was preceded in death by seven sisters, Annie Lee Sancho, Bertha Weldon, Marjorie Weldon Owens, Mary Ellen Lewis, Mattie Owens, Odaris Weldon, and Oreather Brown and three brothers, Charles Weldon, Paul Weldon, and Willie Thomas Weldon.

She leaves behind one sister, Ruth Daniels, and one brother, John Henry Weldon, as well as dozens of nieces, nephews, cousins and friends who will all miss her dearly.

A graveside service was held on Tuesday, Jan. 4, at 2 p.m., at Trinity Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Farmville. Condolences may be expressed at www.JeffressFuneralHome.com.

Arrangements were by Jeffress Funeral Home and Cremation Service of Brookneal.