ForeverMissed
Large image
Her Life
October 29, 2011

Betty Mary Couch was born in Birmingham, AL on July 28, 1927 and preceded in death by her parents, Lela Grey (Williams) Couch and William Owen Couch.  She had an older brother, William, who passed away at the age of 1 day.

Betty lived in various cities in her lifetime including Atlanta, GA, Roswell, GA, New York City, Memphis, TN, Charlotte, NC, Brussels, Belgium, Nashville, TN, Chattanooga, TN, Washington, DC, Laurel, MD and Baltimore, MD.  A graduate of Central High School in Charlotte, NC she went on to receive an undergraduate degree in 1949from Queens College (now University) in Charlotte, NC in sociology with minors in Vocal Music and German. 

On June 11, 1949 Betty married the late William Brandon Davis at First Methodist Church in Charlotte, NC.  Rachel (Stevens) Hardy,  her best friend from college and in their later lives, was her Maid of Honor.  She resided in Salisbury, NC while Brandon finished his Senior Year at Catawba College.  They would later move to Atlanta, GA where Betty enjoyed a short career in Personnel and later Store Operations for Sears, Roebuck & Company.  She was one of the senior manager selected to open the West End store for Sears in Atlanta.  She left Sears to become a teacher in the DeKalb County (GA) School  District at Tucker Elementary and later Tucker High School.  Betty was elected President of the Georgia Classroom Teachers Association.

Betty left teaching in 1958 and gave birth to her only child, a son, Dr. Dana Couch-Davis in Atlanta.  A choir member at First Presbyterian Church in Tucker, GA, Betty moved with her husband and newborn son to Nashville, TN and later Memphis, TN.

In Memphis, Betty was Treasurer of the Newcomers Club, Treasurer and President of the Women of the Church at Shady Grove Presbyterian Church and a Board Member and Officer ot the Nineteenth Century Club.  In 1970, Betty was elected a Deacon at Shady Grove Presbyterian Church and was later Ordained a Ruling Elder at Shady Grove Presbyterian Church serving as an Elder Commissioner to the Memphis Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church US.  The family joined First Evangelical Church in Memphis where Betty served as Recording Secretary and later President of the Women of the Church.

A ferverent volunteer, Betty served as Treasurer of one of the Bible Study Fellowship classes led by Jonetta Fargason.  She served as a volunteer at Gordon Elementary School in Memphis, as a CASA Worker with the Shelby County (TN) Juvenile Court and other organizations.

In her later life, she served in Atlanta, GA as President and Chief Executive Officer of Hixon Behavioral Health and Addiction Services and Dupont Center Corporation in Atlanta, GA.  

Her husband preceded her in death in 2007.  She is survived by her son, Dr. Dana Couch-Davis of Baltimore, MD, her beloved puppy Kamie and her sister Kallie and a host of friends including:  Joan M. Kelly of Memphis, TN; Dottie Watson of Memphis, TN; Rachel Hardy of Silver Spring, MD; Maureen and Sam Rosenblum of Memphis, TN; and Dotty Graham of Memphis, TN.  Surviving family include Mrs. J.M. Trotman of Hoover, AL; Mrs. T.E. Cain of Panama City, FL; Teresa Williams Leland of York, SC and their children.

The family requests memorials be sent to Memphis Theological Seminary at 168 E. Parkway S, Memphis, TN  38104.