Obituary of Bettye June Garrett

Mrs. Bettye Brooks Garrett, 89, wife of the late William Reid Garrett Sr. of Ozark died Saturday evening November 8, 2014 at her home. Funeral services will be 10:00 A. M. Tuesday, November 11, 2014 from the Ozark Baptist Church with Reverend Bill Hix officiating. Internment will follow at 2:30 P.M. in Greenwood Cemetery in Montgomery with Holman Funeral Home and Cremations of Ozark directing. Visitation will be Monday, November 10, 2014 from 4:00 P.M. until 6:00 P.M. in the Holman Funeral Home Chapel. Bettye was the daughter of Robert Lee Brooks and Susan Nell Holloway Brooks. She was born in Edison, Georgia on August 7, 1925 where she grew up in a family with her two sisters and two brothers. After graduating from Edison High School where she lettered in basketball, Bettye moved to Montgomery to attend the University of Alabama legal secretary’s course. Upon graduation, she worked for four years as a legal secretary for a Montgomery law firm and for the Legal Division of the Veteran’s Administration as well as a Montgomery architect. During the course of her time in Montgomery, she met her future husband, William Reid Garrett, Sr. The couple was married in Edison Baptist Church on September 15, 1948 and the marriage endured for 64 years until his passing on September 27, 2012. In 1951 Bettye moved with her husband to Fort Knox, Kentucky where he was stationed prior being sent to Korea. After his return to the states, they moved to Demopolis, AL with their children and then onto Ozark, AL in 1961. While raising their four children, Bettye worked for twenty-two years as a legal secretary for Henry B. Steagall II and then for the law firm Steagall and Adams. After many years as a legal secretary, Bettye decided to vie for a position in the political arena. She ran a successful race and became the first woman in the history of Dale County to be elected to a countywide office as Circuit Clerk in the 33rd Judicial Circuit. She received the oath of office from Judge P.B. McLauchlin on January 4, 1983 and took office January 17th. She ran for office again in 1988 unopposed and was re-elected to serve a second term. She served in this position twelve years before retiring in 1995. Besides the involvement in her husband and children’s activities, Bettye served on the advisory board of the Secretarial School of the Alabama Technical College, served as secretary of the Community Housing Resource Board and assisted the Dale County Democratic Executive Committee beginning in 1968. Bettye was a life-long Baptist attending the Edison Baptist Church and then the Ozark Baptist Church. Although she most liked being at home reading and being with family, she and her husband traveled in retirement mostly in the States. Bettye is survived by, her four children Bettye (Bebe) Garrett Bess and husband Randy of Enterprise, AL, Lynne Garrett Krometis and husband Jerry, Ozark, AL, William Reid Garrett, Jr.and his wife Rebecca of Fuqua Varina, NC, Jane Garrett Harris and husband Greg Harris of Lake Martin, AL, grandson Patrick Arthur Schado, Jr., one brother Ennis Brooks of Albany Georgia and also many nieces and nephews. In addition to her parents and her husband, Bettye was preceded in death by two sisters Laurine McGhee and Edath Miller as well as one brother Billy Buck Brooks The family would like to recognize and express special caregivers Tina Kather, Brenda Yarborough, Annie Smith, and Martha Loper. Flowers will be accepted or memorials may be made to The American Cancer Society, 3054McGehee Road, and Montgomery, Alabama 36111. Service Information