Bettye Evelyn Graham Hepburn passed away peacefully at her residence on Wednesday, November 18, 2015 at age 88. Beloved wife of the late Samuel Joseph Hepburn. Daughter of the late Sarah Adeline and Charles Graham. Loving mother of Judith Hepburn Duplantier and Cynthia Hepburn Gebbia (Ricky). Sister of the late Audie Whetstone, Minnie Taylor, Cleavie Lefkoe, Bertha Karnes, John Graham, Floyd Graham and Peter Graham. Grandmother of Dawn Duplantier Robinette (Travis), David Patrick Duplantier (Jennifer), Daniel Peter Duplantier (Xiaolin), Ricky Frederick Gebbia, Samuel Joseph Gebbia and Melissa Gebbia Pellerin (Jean-Marc). Great grandmother of Zachary Duplantier, Addison Duplantier, Lillian Duplantier, Caleb Robinette, Logan Zheng and Francesca Zheng. Relatives and friends of the family are invited to attend the Memorial Service at LAKE LAWN METAIRIE FUNERAL HOME, 5100 Pontchartrain Blvd., on Tuesday, November 24, 2015 at 11:00 a.m. Interment will follow in Lake Lawn Park Mausoleum. Visitation will begin at 9:30 a.m. until service time. To view and sign the guest book, visit www.lakelawnmetairie.com.
Bettye Hepburn was lovingly eulogized by her two daughters. First, by Cindy:
I'd like to thank everyone for coming today. You've taken some time out of your busy lives to honor my mother, and most of you here didn't actually know her. So I'd like to tell you a little something about the lady you've given a bit of your time for.
My mom was the 8th child in the family of 5 girls and 3 boys. They lived in rural areas of north Louisiana. The house she grew up in didn't have electricity or indoor plumbing. They ate what my grandfather either grew in his garden or raised in the yard. She always said, "we didn't have much, but we always had plenty of good food."
One particular time my mother was told to go fetch a chicken for dinner. Well, I don't know what they ate that night but it wasn't that chicken because after she attempted to ring its neck it got up and ran away. She didn't have to do that anymore.
Another thing my mother didn't like to do was pick vegetables to earn money. She wanted a hair permanent and picked peas to earn the money for it. She promptly decided there had to be a better way. So she learned to type and take shorthand, skills which would serve her well for the rest of her life.
She had various clerical jobs, and finally landed at Kaiser in Chalmette where she worked until she retired. During that time she took some classes and earned the title of Certified Professional Secretary. When she came home with that certificate you'd have thought she had gotten a PhD. It was, in fact, her PhD. She was so proud.
She would type for anyone who needed anything. Lots of term papers. When she sat down to type something there was a dictionary and an eraser, neither of which she needed to use very often. That was back in the day before spell check and auto correction, electric typewriters, and certainly computers.
She did learn to use a computer when she began her second career with a small CPA firm. She needed her taxes done and they needed office help. It started out as part time and ended up being a full time job, with people that she adored.
So she retired again at the age of 70: this time for good. For the first time in her life she did exactly what she wanted, which for the most part, was spending time with her family. She would continue to do that for the next 18 plus years. She would have been 89 tomorrow.
I'll leave you with one other tidbit of information. When I was in high school my mother came home with a recipe for a carrot cake. She made it; I wouldn't eat it. Carrots in a cake? No, not for me. Typical of my mother, she wasn't insulted that I didn't eat any of it; she just said, "Oh, well, you don't know what you're missing." So 3 cakes later I finally tried a piece. She made so many of those cakes. She finally stopped making them, and although I make them using her recipe, I am constantly reminded that they're not as good as grandma's.
Again, I'd like to thank you all for coming and invite everyone to our house after the service. We will have carrot cake in honor of my mother. And no, it still won't be as good as hers.
And by Judy:
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