Ethel Betts celebrates 100 years of life

Betts

Margaret Ethel Dunton Betts will be celebrating her 100th birthday on Jan. 30. Betts was born in Northhampton County on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. She grew up with her younger sister, Sudie Dunton Brothers, in Nassawadox. Her parents were Sudie Ames and Henry Dunton.

Ethel attended William and Mary College the first year women were permitted to attend. Her interests were in the sciences and she transferred to the University of Delaware and graduated in 1928 with a B.S. in nutritional sciences.

She met and married Ralph Nelson Betts f r o m Clarksville, Del. on June 18, 1931.

Ethel had one daughter, Margaret Ames (Peggy) who married Cliff Roltsche in 1961, and three grandchildren, Nelson Betts (1962-1983), Jeffery Allen and Lorena Ames. She is expecting a great-grandchild from Lori and David Cornwell.

Ethel and Ralph moved to Gulf Breeze in 1987, the year they celebrated their 64th wedding anniversary.

She has been most happy at the Gulf Breeze Presbyterian Church for close 20 years and has made a host of friends and is happy to spend her remaining years at the church.

Since Hurricane Ivan, Ethel has lived in her "suite" with her loving dogs "Bud" and "Skipper" at the home of Cliff and Peggy in Grand Pointe.