Betty Ann (Rice) Tolbert

After a long and fruitful life, our mother, sister and friend, Betty Ann Rice Tolbert has passed. We know heaven will be a brighter and greener space upon her arrival…she was dearly loved by her family and will be truly missed by all.

Betty Ann was born in Atlanta Georgia on August 26, 1929, the daughter of Bessie Lee Payne and Charles Crowley Rice Sr. She graduated from Grady High School as part of its first class in 1948. Her career started as a secretary for the Veterans Administration, where she met her lifelong love, Ernest A. Tolbert Jr. They were married at Atlanta First United Methodist Church on April 15, 1951, and enjoyed 61 years of marital bliss. She continued working until the birth of her second child in 1964. Her second career was one she loved and excelled at, that of being a loving and devoted wife and mother.

She lived her entire life within a five-mile radius of where she was born, however that is not to say she wasn’t well traveled, having visited nearly every US State as well as Canada and Cuba. A treasured highlight was the yearly family vacation to Daytona Beach, Florida, often including aunts, uncles and cousins.

Betty Ann loved gardening and was very good at it. She planted and tended every bush, flower and vine that graced her home’s beautiful yard…it was a task she never tired of.

Betty Ann was preceded in death by her husband Ernest A. Tolbert Jr. and her sister Mary Frances Rice. She is survived by her brother, Charles Crowley Rice Jr., her daughter, Lee Ann Tolbert-Sheets ( Donald “George” Sheets), her son Ernest Alan Tolbert (Cherie Tolbert), her granddaughter Amanda Leigh Singletary (Matt Singletary), her nieces’ Jane Kathern Rice (James Horwitz) Gayle Levin (Greg Levin) and her nephew Charles David Rice.

There will be an evening Visitation at HM Patterson & Son Funeral Home – Oglethorpe Hill Chapel on Wednesday, November 6, 2024 from 5 to 8pm, and a Graveside Service at Crest Lawn Memorial Park Thursday, November 7, 2024 at 1pm.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to the Atlanta Humane Society, 1551 Perry Blvd NW, Atlanta, GA 30318 or Golden Manor Senior Living, 2025 Braselton Hwy, Buford, GA 30519.