Betty Jean French Moore

Born in Mobile, Alabama on November 22, 1936. Died in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on December 19, 2025, aged 88. Beloved wife of Bruce Robert Moore. Loving mother to Alice and Ellen and adoring grandmother to Matthew and Isabel.

Betty was the eldest daughter of Anna B. Fox French and Lorenzo George French, Sr. One of ten children, she was preceded in death by her parents; her brothers James, John and Forrest; sisters Nora and Anna; and her husband Bruce. Survived by her daughters and grandchildren; brothers Lorenzo, and Richard; and sisters Ellen Rae, and Norma, as well as by many extended family members.

Betty was a fine scholar. She attended Murphy High School in Mobile, placing in the National Merit Scholarships in her senior year. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Emory University with a degree in English Literature. Further schooling included PhD studies at Stanford University. Betty was a gifted teacher who taught English at Dalhousie University for many years. Many of her students expressed how they had learned to appreciate literature for the first time from her classes. She had a lifelong love of reading, which she shared with her children and grandchildren, as well as with her good friends in her book group and at Dal Kings Reading Group. Betty had a generous heart and a wonderful ability with children. She and Bruce shared a strong commitment to human rights and an active interest in music, politics and history. She was interested in healthy cooking, and walked everywhere. She attended exercise classes twice weekly well into her eighties, and loved to work in her garden.

Special thanks to Myra Pineda and Shena Mari Alip for their dedicated caregiving and friendship in Betty’s final months.

Betty will be buried, as was her wish, with Bruce and near her mother and father at Magnolia Cemetery in Mobile, Alabama. A graveside service will be held at 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, January 20, 2026. A memorial service will follow at 10:00 a.m. at Dauphin Way United Methodist Church, with a reception afterward.

A memorial service will also be held in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where Betty and Bruce made their home for sixty years.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Amnesty International or Doctors Without Borders. Condolences may be offered at www.radneyfuneralhome-mobile.com.