Visitation will be held from 2:00pm until 3:00pm, Friday, June 14, 2024, at Baldwin-Lee Funeral Home in Pearl. Funeral services will follow at 3:00pm in the funeral home chapel with interment in Floral Hills Memory Gardens in Pearl.
Betty was born October 5, 1929, in Morton, Mississippi, a daughter of the late Hugh Whatley and Sadie Rae Saxon McHan. She was a longtime member of Pearson Baptist Church in Pearl.
Betty’s family meant everything to her. She was never happier than when she was visiting with her loved ones, especially her precious grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She was an excellent Southern cook and she delighted in gathering her family around her table.
Betty had a deep appreciation for the outdoors and nature. She enjoyed bird watching, particularly the hummingbirds that assembled around her feeder. She was passionate about her yard and flowers and very knowledgeable about various plants and stems. This detailed and tender care to her gardens earned her the “Yard of the Month” award from the City of Pearl. Betty was also fond of fishing and she and her late husband spent many hours together on the water.
In addition to her parents she was preceded in death by her husband, Jabus Dexter Thornhill, Jr.; daughter, Cheryl Diane Thornhill Neely; and sister, Johnnie W. Shelton.
She is survived by her son, Jabus D. “Dick” Thornhill, III and his wife Susan; brother, Charles “Chuck” Whatley; grandchildren, Jabus D. “Jake” Thornhill, IV and his wife Ansleigh, Jonathan Ryan Neely, and Caycee T. Butler and husband James; 11 great-grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews who loved her dearly.
In lieu of flowers memorials may be made to the Baptist Children’s Village at baptistchildrensvillage.com, or to Children’s Hospital of Mississippi-Blair E. Batson Tower at www.umc.edu/Development/How/Funds/Childrens.
