Betty Carolyn McNeill

Betty Carolyn McNeill was born July 2, 1932 in the city of Lumberton, North Carolina to the late Dudley and Martha Leggett McNeill, and departed her earthly journey on February 17, 2023 at Open Arms Retirement Center in Raeford, North Carolina. Betty McNeill was the oldest living grandchild of the late Addie and William McNeill. She attended the public school system of Lumberton and was a 1951 graduate of J. H. Hayswood High School where she placed second academically in her class. Further education was done at Barber-Scotia College in Concord, North Carolina where she obtained a B.S. Degree in Education and later earned a Masters of Education Degree at North Carolina Central of Durham. In 1958, Betty began teaching at The Mather School in Beaufort, South Carolina. In 1960, Betty moved back home to take care of her ailing Mother. In the Fall of 1962, she became employed by the Robeson County Schools. She taught at Hilly Branch High School and Piney Grove School; earning the Teacher of the Year award for the Piney Grove School in 1973. She taught twenty-nine years in North Carolina and six years in South Carolina for a total of thirty-five years. Betty retired from Piney Grove School in 1991. In addition to her devotion to the education system, she was a very active member of her home church, First Baptist Church. Her many activities included membership in Sunday School, the Floral Club, and the Mission Committee. She also served as Chairperson for the Commission on Church and the Cemetery Committees until her health began to decline. Betty McNeill was an active NAACP youth member, and she and The McNeill family played a major role in assisting the late Gus Bullock with arranging the visit of the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice, Thurgood Marshall to First Baptist Church in South Lumberton in the early 1950's in the preparation of the landmark Brown vs. Board of Education decision in 1954. Funeral Services will be held Thursday 12 noon at First Baptist Church, W 2nd Street, February 23, 2023. Interment will be in the Elizabeth Heights Cemetery, Lumberton, North Carolina.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Betty Carolyn McNeill, please visit our floral store.