Betty Grace Pettigrew Smith, 85, passed away Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024. Services will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 16 at the chapel of Moores Funeral Home with the Rev. Jerry Bradley and the Rev. Kenny Walker officiating. Interment will follow at Baldwin Memorial Gardens Cemetery.

Betty Smith was born in Milledgeville, Georgia Nov. 3, 1938, to the late Thomas Louie Pettigrew and Lena Bell Johnson Pettigrew. She was raised in Milledgeville and was proudly a member of the Peabody Class of 1956 where she received the superlative honor of being "The Friendliest" in her senior year. She attended Georgia College where she received her MBA in accounting in 1978. She was a Certified Public Account and worked for the Auditor General's Office with the State of Florida. She served as a professor of accounting at Florida State University and later, after moving back home, at Georgia College & State University. She also worked as an accountant at Pettigrew and Pettigrew Accounting Services. Betty served on the alumni board at GCSU and received the Outstanding Alumni Service Award for the years 1975, 1976 and 1978, and was awarded this recognition on April 22, 2011. She was actively involved in First Methodist Church as well as GCSU and served as the chairman of several committees.

Survivors include her husband, James Hoyt Smith of Milledgeville; a son, John Marshall "Jay" Holsenbeck Jr., (Jean) of Lubbock, Texas; a stepson, James Hoyt "Chip" Smith Jr., of Crawfordville, Florida; two daughters, Ruby Anne Holsenbeck and Lena Lee Holsenbeck Bonner (Tony) of Millegeville; a sister, Marguerite Pettigrew Folendore, of Milledgeville; three grandchildren, Tony James Bonner Jr. (Sara) of Panama City, Florida, Kimberly Grace Bonner Askew (John) of Eatonton, Georgia, Riley Smith of Crawfordville, Florida; and four great-grandchildren, Noah Gardner Askew, Avery Marah Askew, McKayla Shea Askew and Benjamin Wyatt Askew.

One never met Betty Smith without being greeted with a huge smile and a "Hello, hon" or "Hey, darlin'." Throughout her life, she never met a stranger. She embraced friends with joy and her family with a love and a strength that will forever bond them. She was kind and happy, and she had a work ethic that surpassed many. She will be greatly missed by all.

The family wants to express sincere gratitude and so much love to the staff at the Fellowship Memory Care Unit and to the Georgia Hospice caregivers. Without them, "Mama Betty" wouldn't have been so well taken care of and the family so comfortable. From all of us: "You became family! And last: Meow!"

The family will receive friends Wednesday from 10 until 11 a.m. at Moores Funeral Home preceding the service.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The Peabody Endowed Scholarship at Georgia College & State University.

Moores Funeral Home has charge of arrangements.