Betsy Jane Padgett Richardson passed away unexpectedly on August 25, 2024.  Betsy was born December 22, 1947, in Lynchburg, Virginia to Esther Martin Padgett and Loxley Lloyd Padgett.  Though raised in Lynchburg, Betsy spent many summer days and Sunday afternoons after church playing with her multitude of cousins in Bedford.

At 18, Betsy headed to North Carolina for college where she attended Louisburg College and Methodist College.  Her life beautifully changed forever when she met Bruce Richardson through mutual friends.  Betsy and Bruce were opposites in so many ways, but shared core values and were wildly attracted to each other (so they embarrassingly told their daughters, who have nothing further to say on the topic).  They married on July 25, 1970, in Fort Hill United Methodist Church, Betsy’s home church and the site of her multi-year streak of Sunday School perfect attendance pins.

Bruce and Betsy headed back to North Carolina where they both began their careers as teachers.  Being a teacher allowed Betsy to cultivate her enormous gift of creativity, while building a classroom allowing for silliness, learning, and love.  Bruce and Betsy welcomed their daughters Jane and Martha, completing their family of four.  With a toddler at home and working full-time, Betsy earned her Master of Education degree.  Betsy loved being a mom and made sure her girls participated in every activity (earning the Mom’s “Taxi” sign on her station wagon) and celebrated every holiday to the fullest.  This especially included birthdays, with Betsy’s scratch-made and elaborately decorated cakes.  Barbie cakes, Cabbage Patch Kid cakes, cat cakes, and even a tiered “wedding” cake to fulfill a daughter’s sixth birthday request.  Betsy baked, crafted, and drove carpool through the 80s and early 90s, leaving small windows of time to catch up on Dallas, lovingly iron Bruce’s work shirts and handkerchiefs, and talk to her mom every Saturday night at 9.

As her girls grew up, Betsy found so many other joys in life.  She doted on her four grandchildren only slightly more than her garden.  Even as her joints aged and her body slowed, Betsy worked the garden and cherished each bloom.  She found reasons to be out and about, running errands, driving around grandchildren, and making friends along the way.  She recently adopted a kitten named Rose, who Betsy patiently won over.  Rose was beside Betsy in her last moments.

Most importantly, Betsy lived a life of faith in Jesus.  She never doubted, never wavered.  In the face of loss, struggle, and pain, she knew God’s guidance.  Betsy taught her girls that faith and lived that example to her family.  She ensured that church was always a part of her children’s and grandchildren’s lives.  Her heart-led faith was the balanced counterpart to Bruce’s study-based faith, giving their daughters and each other the foundation for eternity.

Betsy is survived by her daughters, Jane (Will) and Martha (Matthew); her grandchildren, Rebecca, Anna, Andrew, and Claire; and many beloved family and friends.  Betsy and Bruce were married for 53 years before he passed away on October 3, 2023.  She walked this earth for just over ten months without him, and now they have forever to walk side-by-side in God’s heavenly kingdom.

As with all important events in life, Bruce and Betsy wanted a shared funeral service.  A celebration of their lives will be on Saturday, August 31, 2024, at 1:00 PM in the chapel at Pierce-Jefferson Funeral Home in Kernersville.  The family will visit with friends immediately after the service.  In lieu of flowers, please consider making a gift in Betsy’s memory to Kernersville Wesleyan Church.

Friends and family may offer online condolences at www.piercejeffersonfh.com