Betty Lee Smith Trotti

Betty Lee Smith Trotti, beloved mother and grandmother and early childhood pioneer, passed away peacefully on January 1, 2016. The daughter of Faye and Leland Smith, she was born during the depths of the depression on November 3, 1931 in the tiny town of Mission Texas on the Rio Grande. She spent her childhood playing with her much loved brother, Harlan Dean and sister Sarah. She attended the local United Methodist Church, which was also attended by Tom Landry, who later became the famous Dallas Cowboys coach. She was a lifelong devoted Cowboys fan. A natural beauty, she was crowned as the Texas Citrus Fiesta Queen in 1954. She graduated from North Texas State College and did graduate work at U.T. of Austin. She became a social worker, and it was her work in adoption and foster care that sparked her passion for young children. After a move to Jackson with her husband, she became a full time mother to Ned, Dawn and Melinda before working as a kindergarten teacher at Wesley UMC. Later, she became the director of the Methodist Home Day Care Center, which was located on the old Methodist Children’s Home campus. She cared for and educated hundreds of children over the years and made many friends of their parents. She organized early childhood conferences for the United Methodist Church and while working for the Forum on Children and Families, wrote several books for child care providers about licensing regulations and how to provide high quality child care. With her daughter Dawn, their program Jackson Preschool, Inc. became the first full day early childhood program in Mississippi to earn national accreditation.

However, her heart was always with her own children and granddaughters. She loved them, reared them, guided them and shaped them into the adults they became. She was extremely proud of each of them and their accomplishments. She never missed an event and cooked the family Sunday dinner for years. In return, they gladly loved and cared for her in her final years.

She is survived by her children Ned Trotti (Cathy), Dawn Trotti Hall (John Robert), and Melinda Trotti Berkey (David) and her granddaughters Leigh Holland Trotti, Laura Ellen Trotti Heniken (John), Audrey Lee Hall and Madeline Hall. Visitation will be at Parkway Funeral Home on Tuesday, January 5, 2016 from 5:00-7:00pm. Visitation will continue on Wednesday at 10:00am prior to the 11:00am service at Ridgeland First UMC with burial in Jessamine Cemetery. Her two sons-in-law, Rev. J.R. Hall and Rev. David Berkey, will conduct the service. In lieu of flowers, gifts may be made to the Methodist Children’s Home, 805 N. Flag Chapel Rd., Jackson, MS 39209 or to Hospice Ministries, 450 Towne Center Blvd., Ridgeland, MS 39157.

Arrangements under the direction of Parkway Funeral Home, Ridgeland, MS.