Richard Taliaferro Betts

July 31, 1970-July 7, 2014

Columbus, GA- Richard Taliaferro Betts, 43, of Columbus, died at The Midtown Medical Center on July 7, 2014. Services will be held at

2:00 p.m. on Thursday, July 10, 2014 at St. Paul United Methodist Church with a graveside service to follow at Parkhill Cemetery. Dr.

Shane Green and Reverend John Fugh, Jr. officiating, according to Striffler-Hamby Mortuary of Macon Road. Mr. Betts was born July 31, 1970 in Columbus, son of the late Oscar Leon Betts III and Sue Taliaferro Betts. He graduated from Brookstone School and New England College,

during which he spent a semester at Arundel, West Sussex, England. Mr. Betts was employed by TSYS as Associate Director of TSYS Education and by Synovus Financial Corporation as Manager of Learning and Delivery as well as Senior Learning Business Partner. He

served his community as a Synovus Representative for the BRIDGE Committee and as a Partner in Education at South Columbus

Elementary School. He was a member of the Jack Parker Scholarship Auction Committee, co-chair for volunteers for the Arts and Antiques Show at the Columbus Museum and a volunteer at the National Infantry Museum. He was preceded in death by his parents and his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Richard Henry Taliaferro and Mr. and Mrs. Oscar Leon Betts, Jr. He is survived by his sisters Frances Crawford Betts, of Basalt, Colorado and Elizabeth Betts Hakala and her husband, Shaun, of Gardner, Massachusetts, his niece Emma Elizabeth

Hakala and his nephew William Arthur Hakala. Also surviving are Annie Ruth Short, numerous cousins and an abundance of friends – all of whom he loved as family. The family wishes to express deepest gratitude for the excellent care provided by the MD Anderson Cancer Center

and The Midtown Medical Center. The family requests that, in lieu of flowers, contributions be made to St. Paul United Methodist Church.