Betty Kelly Howard

Betty Jean Kelly Howard, 91, of Marietta, Georgia, beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, went to be with her Lord and Savior on June 28, 2026. She was born in Due West, South Carolina, to the late Prue and Bessie Kelly. Betty lived a life filled with love, joy, and honor keeping family as her focus. She loved cooking for her friends and family especially preparing sour cream pound cakes, cornbread dressing, homemade biscuits, triple-layer strawberry shortcakes, and pecan pies.

Betty spent her life living in South Carolina, Kentucky, and Georgia, moving from church to church with her family to serve wherever her father was called to pastor. She was a graduate of Springfield High School, where she had transferred for her senior year after her family’s move to Kentucky. After high school she attended Georgetown College where she received her BA in elementary education and then spent the next several years teaching elementary school. After her family’s move to Georgia, she followed them, and on the night of her arrival at the train station in Atlanta, she met the man she would wed and spend the next 67 years, loving and raising their own family. During her lifetime she spent hours loving and serving her Lord at many churches including Grant Park Baptist Church (Atlanta, GA), Chapel Heights Baptist Church (Decatur, GA), and Roswell Street Baptist Church (Marietta, GA).

Betty is survived by her loving husband Bill (John William) Howard; her children Cindy Howard Wilson (Bruce), Jennifer Howard Gordon (Chuck), and Gregory Howard; her grandchildren Emily Wilson Davis (Jason), Amy Wilson Pipkin (Jake), Maegan Gordon, Abigail Gordon Garanzuay (Israel), and Laura Beth Gordon; and her great grandchildren, Rylan and Sean Davis, and Caroline and Charlotte Pipkin; her sister Martha Kelly Hays (Devers); her sister-in-law Cecilia Howard Coleman (Reggie); and her many nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents Prue and Bessie Kelly, her brother Prue Wilton Kelly, her sister Ann Kelly Collins, and her great grandson Brantley Davis.

A visitation will be held at 1:00pm with a service beginning at 2:00pm on Friday, July 3, 2026, at Roswell Funeral Home (950 Mansell Road, Roswell, GA). Burial will follow at Green Lawn Cemetery (Roswell, GA). In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the American Heart Association.