David Kennedy Betts

David Betts died July 2, 2018 in Riverside Regional Medical Center following a period of declining health. Mr. Betts lived in the Newport News Nursing and Rehabilitation Center for the past nine years and on the Peninsula all of his life. David was born in Newport News, on July 22, 1929, to Betty Armitage Trueblood and Franklin Lee Betts, both of whom are now deceased. He graduated from Morrison (now Warwick) High School in Warwick County in June 1947 and then attended Presbyterian Junior College in North Carolina. During the Korean War he was drafted into the Army of the United States and served as an artilleryman, in Alaska, with Battery B, 147th Field Artillery, of the South Dakota National Guard. After returning to civilian life, he worked for the Newport News Business Forms Company as a proof-reader and then entered the Civil Service from which he retired at McDonald Army Hospital, Fort Eustis, in 1989. Mr. Betts was previously married to Jeanette White of Hampton, now deceased, and was the widower of Elizabeth Meadows Betts. His step-son Albert Meadows (Linda) predeceased him. He is survived by his step-daughters Elizabeth Wright, Nellie (Charles - deceased) Smeltzer, Ann (Joseph - deceased) Ordunez, and step-son William (Lorraine) Meadows. His older brother Ted F. Betts also predeceased him. He is also survived by his younger brother Jay Warren (Tova), a niece, and nephews. The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the American Heart Association. The family would like to thank the nurses and staff of Newport News Nursing and Rehabilitation Center for the loving-kindness shown to Mr. Betts. Services will be Friday, July 6, 2018 at 11:00 am in the Mausoleum Chapel of Parklawn Memorial Park, 2551 North Armistead Avenue, Hampton, Virginia. Friends are encouraged to visit www.parklawn-woodfh.com to share memories and words of condolence with the family. Arrangements are under the care of Parklawn-Wood Funeral Home and Memorial Park, 2551 N. Armistead Avenue, Hampton, Virginia 23666.