Nana was born to Gordon Lucious Merritt, Sr. and Ila Odell Johnson Merritt on October 19, 1937 in Havana, FL. Betty met Douglas Wright Brazelton on a blind date while he was in basic training in Pensacola, FL. They were married for 44 years. Doug went on to be a pilot in the United States Air Force.
Betty was 23 years old with a toddler and a 5-week-old baby when she moved to Wiesbaden, Germany and learned what it meant to be a true Air Force wife! After Germany, she never hesitated to tell anyone that she packed up and moved 17 more times in 18 years. Betty loved to travel a whole lot more than she loved to move. She got to see a lot of the world and could tell you a story about everyplace she visited.
Betty and Doug graduated from the Fort Worth police academy and went on to be reserve police officers. They retired from Fort Worth PD after 10 years of service. She never missed an opportunity to let anyone know she scored higher than her husband on the shooting range.
Doug had two goals. They were to provide for his family and to make Betty’s dreams come true. He accomplished both with great success. Her biggest dream was a retirement home on the beach. They built a home in Beacon Hill, Florida where they had the Gulf of Mexico as their front yard.
Betty had a great love for reading. She always had a book she was reading and 20 or more to be read. She held onto every single one of them.
Most of all, Betty loved her family.
She was proceeded in death by her parents Gordon and Ila Merritt, her step-mother Onyx Merritt, her husband Doug Brazelton, her sister Janie Merritt Brannon, her sister in law Barbara Merritt.
She is survived by her two brothers and their spouses, Lou & Jane Merritt and Don & Tommie Merritt. Her step sister Sandi Kennedy. Her son and his wife Mark & Jan Brazelton and her daughter and her husband Kay & Jerry Burgess. She is also survived by her five grandchildren and their spouses, Gena & Mark Ettinger, Ashley & Reed Perryman, Cody & Hillary Brazelton, Jennifer & Rahn Smith, and Rachel & Jeremy Han. She also had 12 great grandchildren, Eli, Gavin & Savannah Ettinger, Claire, Carsen & Crew Perryman, Avery & Braelyn Smith and Chloe, Nathan Andrew and Philip Han.
The family would like to express our sincere gratitude to Nana’s caregivers Matilda and Gladys. We appreciate you more than you know.
Funeral service for Betty will be at 12:00 Noon on Tuesday, February 9, 2021 at Moore Bowen Road Funeral Home. The services will be live streamed and may be viewed from the funeral home's webpage. Interment will follow at the Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery. Services were postponed due to the cemetery's scheduling availability.
In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that donations be made to: Campus Outreach Augusta, Attention: Andrew Sears, 624 Greene Street, Augusta, GA 30901.
COMPARTA UN OBITUARIO
v.1.9.5