Betty C Coffelt Rubright

Betty Ruth Coffelt Rubright went to be with her Lord on Sunday, September 21, 2014. Born in Oklahoma City, OK on September 11, 1926, she moved to the Washington, DC area in 1941 and married Leonard Rubright on August 25, 1947. She and her husband had two sons, Richard Leonard Rubright and James Nelson Rubright, and resided in Fairfax County, VA until their retirement in 1981 when they moved to Homosassa, FL. She was pre-deceased by her brother Donald, her sister Georgelyn and her husband Leonard. Survivors include her sons, their spouses, six grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

Mrs. Rubright was a lifelong educator. She initially attended the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and American University in Washington, DC, obtaining her teaching certification. She taught in Fairfax County’s elementary schools from 1947-1950 before her first son was born, and returned to elementary teaching after completing her Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education at American University in 1962. She received a Master of Education in Elementary Principalship, with an additional certification in Special Education, from the University of Virginia in 1968.

She continued elementary teaching until she became interested in working with handicapped children through a summer program for retarded children. She then taught special education classes for two years and two summers, until being transferred to the county’s Central Office where she was Director of Programs for Moderately Retarded Children. In that role, she designed the educational program for residents of a new Training Center for the Mentally Retarded. She was named as the first Director (principal) of that school, and directed it for eight years until her retirement in 1981.

Mrs. Rubright was very active in the American Legion Auxiliary and the 8 and 40 (an honor society of the Auxiliary), holding numerous local and state posts in both organizations. She led the Auxiliary’s Americanism program that won the national award at the American Legion convention and subsequently the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge award. She was also the recipient of the Freedoms Foundation Teachers Medal the following year for “promoting a better understanding of the American way of life”.

Upon retirement, she and her husband served for many years in the Coast Guard Auxiliary where they performed radio monitoring, boat inspections and stranded boat rescues out of the Crystal River station. They also became Certified Volunteer Chaplains, initiating innovative ministries for shut-ins and those in nursing homes, including mailing “You Are Special” letters to nearly 100 individuals per month. They both became Certified Shelter Managers with the Florida Baptist Disaster Team, serving two tours of duty in Manning, SC immediately after Hurricane Hugo in 1989, as well as during the flooding of the Homosassa, Chassaahowitzka and Crystal River regions in March 1993.

After her husband’s passing, Mrs. Rubright moved to the Lake Seminole Square retirement complex in Seminole, FL, where she continued her volunteer activities through greeting card ministries and chairing grief support groups for those with recent losses.

Mrs. Rubright’s family will be hosting “A Celebration of a Remarkable Life” in the auditorium at Lake Seminole Square, 8333 Seminole Boulevard, Seminole, FL at 10:00 AM on Friday, October 3, 2014. All of her friends and acquaintances are welcome!

Individuals who wish to may make contributions to the Seminole First Baptist Church Building Fund, 11045 Park Boulevard, Seminole, FL 33772, in her name.