Betty Bamberg

Betty Ruth Larkins Bamberg passed away on Sunday, October 21, 2018. Betty was born September 19, 1920, to Dora Alice Dantzler Larkins (Larkie) and Norman Holmes Larkins (Big or Big Daddy) in Clinton, N.C. Her earliest memory is playing in the yard digging a hole with a spoon. According to her mother, she started walking at a young age and once said, “Look at Betty walking!” She started talking at 6 months and spent many a time in school standing in the corner for talking too much. Betty grew up on a farm outside of Clinton, NC, which was a small town with a candy store, music theater and café, but few neighbors with children to play with. Betty received a weekly allowance of 10-15 cents for chores such as cleaning her room and working in the garden. Visiting White Lake was a favorite summer day-trip and Betty and siblings would tie their wet bathing suits on the back of the car to dry and advertise they had been swimming. On Sundays the family would attend church at First Methodist in Clinton, where her mother taught Sunday School. She was active musically at an early age, playing many favorite tunes on the piano by ear. She subsequently took formal piano lessons from D. B. Carter and participated in yearly recitals, having a new dress made for such a special occasion. She and her sister Dot sang duets on the local radio station in Clinton. Her oldest sister, Jadie, taught Betty for her fifth grade class, where her favorite subject was English. She graduated from Clinton High School when she was 15 and was Valedictorian and “Most likely to succeed.” (There were only 11 grades at that time and she skipped the second grade.) She attended Peace College for two years and Bob Jones University, where she graduated with a degree in English. Betty took advantage of free piano and organ lessons while there. She worked in Fayetteville N.C., at Fort Bragg as a clerk in a law office and boarded with Miss Trice who was known as a good cook. While waiting in a car and reading “Gone with the Wind”, Betty met her future husband Joe when he stopped by to speak with her regarding playing for a local revival where he was the music director. They were married two weeks after their friends Billy and Ruth Graham were wed, on August 27, 1943, at First Methodist in Clinton, NC. They then moved to Fort Worth, Texas, where Joe attended Southwestern Seminary. While Joe was in the chaplaincy in Hawaii, Betty was active in playing the organ for chapel, singing in a trio, and Hawaii was where Robert (Widge) was born. They moved to Milton, Florida, in 1947, when Joe was called as pastor of First Baptist. She was active both in and outside the church. She was a candy striper at the local hospital and active in the Shakespeare and the Garden club. She played the organ at church services, played piano for choir practices, taught Sunday school, was president of the Woman’s Missionary Union, and sang and directed various ladies’ musical groups. Betty was a home cook, being famous for never serving store-bought bread at sit-down meals. It was not uncommon for church visitors to be invited to join the family for Sunday dinner. All of her children became good cooks by observation of her time in the kitchen. Barrie fondly remembers being able to come home for lunch during her grade school years and looked forward to spending that time with her mom every day. Betty sewed clothes for herself as well as the kids and made knock-off dresses for Barrie, after visiting the local dress shop and making sketches. As a typist of over 100 words-per-minute, she would often bang out Widge’s handwritten school papers. She helped design and construct Halloween costumes for all three children. She enjoyed life and everything she did was undertaken with a sense of purpose. She is survived by her three children, Tim, Barrie and Widge (Ruth); one grandchild, Ed (Dawn); and two great grandchildren, Cana Rose (Alex Davidson) and Noah Robert. She is preceded in death by her parents, Dora Alice Dantzler Larkins (Larkie) and Norman Holmes Larkins (Big or Big Daddy); her husband, Joe; and by her five siblings, Norman Jr. (Maggie Lou), Dantzler (Erline), Herbert (Ola), Doralita (Charles Petty), and Dorothy (Richard Stroud). A Memorial Service will be held at 4:00 p.m., Thursday, November 1, 2018, in the First Baptist Church Sanctuary with Dr. David Spencer and Dr. Jonathan Russell officiating. Visitation will be held 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m., prior to the service. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial contributions may be made, in Betty’s name, to the music ministry of First Baptist Church of Milton. DONATIONS BY MAIL: First Baptist Church 6797 Caroline Street Milton, Florida 32570 BY PHONE: 850.623.3122 GIVE ONLINE: www.fbcmilton.org