Elizabeth Haywood

Elizabeth (Betty) Stevens Haywood, 90, passed away on December 6, 2017 at Phenix City Health Care. The family will welcome visitors at Strifler Hamby Mortuary on Macon Road on Saturday, December 16th from 2 – 4pm. Betty was born October 12, 1927 at Ft. Williams in Portland, Maine, the daughter of Lt. B.G. Stevens of Portland, Maine and Martha Alexander Stevens of Ft. Mitchell, Alabama and Columbus, Georgia. As a career military family, they were posted far from home, including Pearl Harbor, Hawaii and Vancouver Barracks, Washington, but they maintained strong ties to family in Columbus and in Portland, Maine, where Betty enjoyed many summer months at the family’s cottage on Great Diamond Island in Casco Bay. Betty attended Columbus High School and graduated in 1944 and attended Sweet Briar College and the University of Texas. She attended Columbus College and received her B.A. in art in 1974.

At the end of WWII, she joined her parents in Germany and began her career as an educator, teaching kindergarten to base children. When she returned to Columbus for her cousin’s debutante party, Betty was paired with former CHS classmate Walter Haywood; they were married within a year and raised a family in Columbus. Betty was involved early in the formation of Trinity School and taught kindergarten and reading. Many Columbus students owe their success in school to the additional tutoring they received from her, primarily in math and reading. The Haywood family frequently visited the W.C. Bradley Memorial Library and when a job opportunity arose there, she began her career with that institution, eventually serving in the Circulation, Reference, Children’s and 12th Street Library departments until her retirement in 1987. Betty was accomplished at quilting, knitting, crochet, embroidery, clothing and slipcover construction, rug hooking and much more. During her years at Columbus College she explored painting, photography, woodcut print making, and ceramics. Ever practical, the house was decorated with furniture that she had refinished, slipcovered, or “antiqued.” Betty was intrigued by both sides of her family’s history, her father’s deep roots in New England as well as her mother’s equally deep roots at Ft. Mitchel which led to extensive research into the genealogies of those families as well as her husband’s Haywood history. After their retirements, Betty and Walter spent as much time as possible at the family cottage on Great Diamond Island, which they both enjoyed immensely, both for the location and for the friends they made there. She loved to read, worked multiple crossword puzzles a day, and very much enjoyed her years as a member of Phalo Study Club. Betty loved baseball, especially when her sons played little league and the Atlanta Braves always, and was cheering on one of her favorite football teams through their recent SEC championship.

She is survived by daughter Anne Haywood of Tampa, FL and son Jim Haywood (Edna) of Tucker, GA; granddaughter Jennifer (Ross) Boner of Huntersville, NC and grandsons Ryan (Laurie) Haywood of Austin, TX and Michael (Tatum) Haywood of Sandy Springs, GA; great grandchildren Mary Ansley and Penland Boner and Eli and Olivia Haywood, and many nieces and nephews. Betty was predeceased by her husband of 60 years, Walter Haywood, her son Steven, and her brother B.G. Stevens II, as well as her parents.

In lieu of flowers, the family is asking that you make a donation to Hospice of Columbus, P.A.W.S. or the charity of your choice.

Condolences may be offered at www.shcolumbus.com.

Arrangements under the direction of Striffler-Hamby Mortuary, Columbus, GA.