Betty Virgina Battles

Mother and Grandmother and Great Grandmother Betty Virginia Battles, nee Lloyd passed away Saturday, July 31, 2022 at Sojourner Place in Kalamazoo, Michigan where she had been cared for excellently by their kind and gentle staff leaving behind daughter Gabrielle Termaat, Granddaughter Dominique Termaat and Great Granddaughters Lauren and Jenna Whittle. She lost her son John in 1997 and grandson Ross Termaat in 2020. Born to Candis (nee Simmons) and J. V. Lloyd in Memphis, Tennessee March 14, 1930 and was an only child. Taught sewing in high school where she had a real gift sewing actively until just a few years ago, making among other Gabrielle’s wedding dress and many lovely things for Dominique. A widow of retired Commander Roy Everett Battles who passed away 1997. When he was in active service, Betty a member of their charity arm , Navy Relief was pressed into service making baby clothes for new mothers in need. While a long-time member of Advent Presbyterian Church she worked with a group of women making quilts to be auctioned off annually. She spent many happy years there as a volunteer answering phones and helping with mailings. In a case of be careful what you ask for she began to have an interest in family genealogy perhaps to find out why family members named Bullington and Billington would say they were not related although they were living only miles apart! As to the be careful part she did find an ancestor (one of the Bullingtons) who came over on the Mayflower who was the first Englishman to be hung! Governor Bradford would later say perhaps they were too precipitous. She was also related to George Mason who drafted the Bill of Rights through another branch of the family (Simmons). On a visit to Williamsburg, Virginia she found his pew seat next to Lighthorse Harry Lee of those Lees and we all know what happened to that! As I said be careful! Dominique and I can now imagine Betty being reunited with son John and grandson Ross making “hand pies” with her beloved grandmother Patia Leota Lloyd long deceased.