COLUMBIA - Elizabeth “Betty” Ingram Procko of Columbia, South Carolina, was born in Columbia on February 3, 1937 and passed away in Columbia on Wednesday, May 11, 2022. She was the daughter of the late Elizabeth Hanlon Ingram and the late Lamar Wallace Ingram, Sr. of Columbia. Betty graduated from Dreher High School in 1955 and then entered the Business College at the University of South Carolina. She was a member of the Zeta Tau Alpha sorority. In 1958, as a junior, Betty was treasurer of Sigma Alpha Sigma at the Business College, an organization that recognized outstanding students in the field of secretarial science. In that year, Betty had the highest scholastic average of the group's members and was awarded an engraved silver platter in recognition of her achievement; it is still proudly displayed in her china cabinet. In 1959, Betty became the President of Sigma Alpha Sigma.
Betty graduated from the University of South Carolina in 1959 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration. She found employment with Southern Bell, and, breaking the "glass ceiling," later became the first female Bell System telecommunications engineer in South Carolina. She retired in 1996 from BellSouth (now ATT) as a capacity manager with 36 years of service in the telecommunications industry. She received many company mementos that recognized her work in the greater Columbia area and often traveled out of state for advanced training. On occasion, she traveled to a Federal establishment in South Carolina, working to ensure that communication equipment there operated as intended.
In Betty's "younger days," as she put it, she did a substantial amount of leisure traveling in the United States (including Hawaii), as well as to Greece, Bermuda, and Jamaica. Betty enjoyed reading works by several favorite authors and always looked forward to meeting with her friends in their "Tuesday Bridge Club." She was a member of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Columbia, South Carolina, and was active in the women's Jacquier Guild, and later in the St. Joseph Women's Society, serving as its treasurer for several years.
Married in 1976, Betty is survived by her husband of 46 years, Walter L. Procko. She is survived also by her brother Benjamin Hanlon Ingram of Tulsa, Oklahoma, her brother Harold Jerome Ingram of Columbia, South Carolina, her sister-in-law Jean P. Ingram of Columbia, South Carolina, and many nieces, nephews and cousins. She was predeceased by her brother Lamar Wallace Ingram, Jr. of Columbia, South Carolina, and by her sisters-in-law Sonia Ingram of Tulsa, Oklahoma and Mary Ingram of Columbia, South Carolina, and by her brother-in-law Jay Allan Procko of Hemet, California.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10:00 a.m. Wednesday, May 18, 2022 at St. Joseph Catholic Church, with burial in Greenlawn Memorial Park. The Rosary will be recited at 6:00 p.m. Tuesday, May 17, 2022, at Dunbar Funeral Home, Devine Street Chapel, with visitation following until 8:00 p.m.
Memorials may be made to St. Joseph Catholic Elementary School, 3700 Devine Street, Columbia, South Carolina 29205.
Memories may be shared at www.dunbarfunerals.com.
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