Betty Smith Cline

Dr. Betty S. Cline, of Fayetteville, NC and Greenville, SC, left this earth on January 03, 2023, after a 12 year battle with Alzheimer's. Betty was born and raised in and around Greenville, SC, where her father, Rev. Daniel Webster Smith, was a Methodist Minister. She was one of 5 children. She had a deep love and desire of learning, as evidenced by her impressive secondary education. She attended Brevard College after high school, followed by Lander College where she got a teacher's certificate and degrees in both English and History. She met and married F. Ray Cline in 1948 and then moved to Fayetteville, NC, in 1950. She started her teaching profession at Alexander Graham Junior High School where she taught both English and History, later relocating to Washington Drive where she was a guidance counselor.

Betty attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the early 1960's,while she was pregnant with her only daughter, Debbie. She graduated with a Master's Degree in Psychology. She left mainstream education in the late 1960's and took on the new role of Special Education Coordinator in the Fayetteville City Schools, crossing all boundaries that this program encompassed. She fought long and hard for children in need throughout the city and it was in this program that she stayed until she reached retirement in the mid-late 1980's. Never has there been a coordinator who fought so diligently for children in need of help learning.

Dr. Cline also became an adjunct professor at Methodist University in 1968, teaching Psychology and Special Education through the years, finally leaving the university system in the 1990's. She also became a professor of the same with Fayetteville Technical Community College. She loved teaching secondary students, particularly the military soldier and their families.

Dr. Cline completed her greatest feat at the age of 60, when she obtained a PhD degree in Education through Nova University.

Dr. Cline is predeceased in death by her parents, Rev. D. W. Smith and Ethel Smith of Greenville, SC, her oldest sister, Doris Smith and her husband Julian, her half sister, Amilee Heaton of Anderson, SC, and her brother, Rev. Paul Smith and his wife, Margaret, of Greenville, SC.

Betty is survived by her daughter, Debbie Cline, of Roseboro, NC and her grandson, SSG Matthew Matz of JBER, AK and his beautiful wife, Kristin, as well as three great grandsons .Her youngest sister, Alice Whitmire, who resides in Fayetteville, GA and multiple nephews in and around Greenville, SC.

A Memorial Service will be held at Woodlawn Memorial Park 1 Pine Knoll Dr., Greenville, SC, on January 28, 2023, at 2 p.m.. Interment will follow the service.

A Celebration of Life will be held Saturday, February 4, 2023 at Haymont United Methodist Church,1700 Ft. Bragg Rd., Fayetteville, NC, at 2p.m.

In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the Alzheimer's Association in honor of Dr. Betty S. Cline.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.mackeywoodlawn.com for the Cline family.