Elizabeth Page Harper Wyatt

Betty Page Harper Wyatt, 90, of Williamsburg, died July 2, 2013 from complications of Ehlers Danlos Syndrome. A former resident of Hampton, she was Secretary-Treasurer of Wyatt Brothers Inc., Men's Clothiers, which had been owned by her late husband, William W. Wyatt, until his death in 1983. Wyatt Brothers was a family business in Old Hampton established in 1903.

Betty was born in Newport News. She was the daughter of the late Ethel Williamson and Roland Wade Harper. In the early 1890's, her grandfather, James Franklin Harper, came from Essex County and founded Harpersville, formerly in Warwick County now Newport News.

She graduated from Newport News High School and Longwood University. While she was still in high school, her family moved to the Wythe area of Hampton. She worked a short while until her marriage for Virginia Public Service Company which is now Dominion Virginia Power.

Her survivors include daughters, Betty Wade Coyle, and husband, Timothy, of Norfolk, and Nancy Lewis, and husband, Vestal, of Hampton; and grandchildren, Patrick Coyle, Andrew Coyle and significant other Jen Catlin, and Harper Lewis.

While living in Hampton, she was a member of St. John's Episcopal Church. Upon moving to Williamsburg, she joined Bruton Parish Episcopal Church.

Betty's energy and spirit extended to numerous civic and community organizations. While a resident of Hampton, Betty was on the Board of Trustees of the Charles H. Taylor Memorial Library, and the Boards of the Peninsula Girl Scout Council, the Hampton High School P.T.A., and the Peninsula Comprehensive Health Planning Council. She was a founding member of the Pembroke Garden Club. After her husband's death she moved to Williamsburg Landing where she was an Early Settler.

She spent many years on her hobby, genealogy, and she leaves a legacy of family history. She is bequeathing her genealogical materials to the Virginia Historical Society. Consequently, through her interest in history, she belonged to historical museums and patriotic organizations including the Comte de Grasse Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution; the Hampton Roads Chapter of the National Society United States Daughters of 1812; and the Williamsburg Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. Several years ago, she received her 60-year pin as a member of the Woman's Club. She was also a member of the Guild of the Peninsula Fine Arts Center, the Chrysler Museum Glass Associates, the James River Country Club, and the Hampton Yacht Club.

Betty was a founding member of Citizens for Fort Monroe National Park and served on the organization's Board from its inception with great enthusiasm for the cause. She persuaded many other people to join the effort and lived to see Fort Monroe become a National Park and Monument, a vision few people thought was possible. The members of this Board were chosen by the Daily Press to receive the 2011 Peninsula Citizen of the Year Award. In 2013, she was awarded the Judah P. Benjamin National Award by the United Daughters of the Confederacy for her work in helping to make Fort Monroe a National Monument.

A funeral service will be conducted at Bruton Parish Episcopal Church at 10:30 a.m. on Monday, July 8, 2013. Interment will be at St. John's Episcopal Church Cemetery in Hampton at 12:30 p.m. A reception in the St. John's Parish Hall will follow the interment. The family will receive friends from 7 to 8:30 p.m. on Sunday, July 7, 2013 at the home of Nancy and Vestal Lewis, 3001 Chesapeake Avenue in Hampton.

Memorials may be made to the Fort Monroe National Park Foundation, P. O. Box 51097, Ft. Monroe, VA 23651-0097 or to the St. John's Episcopal Church Cemetery Fund, 100 West Queen's Way, Hampton, VA 23669.

Funeral arrangements are by Parklawn-Wood Funeral Home, 2551 N. Armistead Ave., Hampton, VA 23666.