Betty Griffin

Betty Louise Griffin passed away peacefully on March 25th, 2014 with family by her side. She was born to Frank and Ruth Lilley in the rural community of Farmlife, Martin County, on December 4th, 1921, and went on to live a long, full and successful life. Betty began her career in 1940 as a secretary in the law firm of Martin and Griffin in Williamston, NC. In 1948 she accepted the position of Rep. Herbert C. Bonner's secretary in Washington, DC, a position she held until 1951. She then became a staff member of the Enterprise newspaper in Williamston, later worked for Dupont, and went on to become the Managerial Secretary for the Voice of America's Greenville Operations from 1962 to 1968. Her marriage to her first husband Carroll Christopher Coltrain ended in 1945. She married William Evan Griffin of Farmlife in 1955 and they shared their lives together until his death in 2000.

Her most notable professional accomplishment and her lasting legacy was as founder of the Martin County Senior Center. It began in 1970 when she was appointed by Governor Robert Scott to serve on the NC Council on Aging to help develop a State aging program. In 1972 she accepted the position of Director of the newly formed Martin County Council on Aging, working from her home and utilizing a "generous" initial grant of $10,000 to organize volunteers and arrange meetings for senior citizen groups throughout Martin County. The position became full-time in 1973, and with a dramatically increased budget of $12,500 Betty negotiated space in the local "scout hut" in exchange for paying their power bill, and each day unloaded and loaded her supplies, typewriter, and educational materials from her car to offer health seminars, arts and craft classes, and Bible study to local senior citizens. In 1974, she found a permanent home for what would become the Martin County Senior Center in the recently vacated Martin Co. Hospital. She continued to expand her outreach program throughout the county and offered transportation and daily meals to seniors in several rural communities in northeastern NC. The program continued to grow under her directorship, and at her retirement in 1986 "The Center" offered services to over 4,500 senior citizens in five eastern counties, and served 900 to 1,000 meals daily on an annual budget of $500,000. The Martin County Senior Center was the first totally federally funded senior citizen program in NC, and in 1976 it was selected by the National Council on Aging as one of the top three rural centers in the entire country just four years after it opened.

In retirement Betty continued to serve her community of Williamston and Martin County. She was elected to the Williamston Town Commissioners in 1985, served as the Chairman of the Martin County Democratic Committee, and ran unsuccessfully for Mayor of Williamston, the only woman ever to run for that office. She was recognized by Governor Jim Martin in 1991 for her volunteer service to the Roanoke Home Care Hospice, and in 1992 she was nominated for a Distinguished Women of North Carolina Award by the North Carolina Council for Women. She also served as the President of the Martin County Historical Society. She was a member of Memorial Baptist Church, and sang in the senior choir well into her retirement years.

Her greatest blessings were her large, extended family and the circle of close friends she and Evan held so dear. She loved them all. She is survived by her sons Carroll Coltrain of Bath, NC; Terry Griffin, wife Virginia and sons Matt and Ian of Tampa, FL; and Tim Griffin, wife Tamara and daughters Claire and Anna of Chapel Hill; sisters Laura Norris and Cairo Edrich of Williamston, NC and Doris Leggett of Everetts, NC; brothers B.F. Lilley, Jr. and Dale Lilley of Williamston, NC and Fred Lilley of Greenville, NC.

Funeral service will be 11:00 a.m. Friday March 28th at Memorial Baptist Church in Williamston, NC.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Betty Griffin's memory to the Martin County Council on Aging, P.O. Box 1023, Williamston, NC 27892.