Betty Jean Harrington

Betty Harrington, formerly of Hampton, South Carolina passed away peacefully at her home in Rome, Georgia on May 16, 2023. She was born on August 10, 1933 in Commerce, Georgia, the daughter of Hoyt E. Hendrix and Clara Jane King Hendrix.

After graduating from Oglethorpe High School in 1950 Betty attended Piedmont Hospital School of Nursing in Atlanta. In 1951 she enlisted in the U.S. Navy’s Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES) where she completed Hospital Corps School and served at Bainbridge Naval Training Center in Port Deposit, Maryland. At Bainbridge she met the love of her life, John Albert Harrington, of Bristol, Virginia. Betty and John were married in August 1953 and Betty received an honorable discharge the following October. After John’s discharge from the Navy they moved to Bristol for John to finish college. Betty worked in the office of Dr. John Marcy to pay for school and John’s mom Kathern took care of their new daughter. Once John finished East Tennessee State University with a degree in chemical engineering, the family moved to Hampton and John began work at Westinghouse Electric Corporation in Hampton..

Betty enjoyed activities that included others, playing bridge, volunteering for the Red Cross blood mobile, working at Morray Jewelers. She loved meeting new people, routinely embarrassing her children by being the person with whom strangers would strike up interesting conversations. She and John were devastated when in 1972 they lost their beloved son John Kelly Harrington at age 14, but they rebuilt their lives and worked to support the local Boy Scouts. When Betty’s granddaughter was born in 1982, she provided childcare and the foundation for an especially close bond between the two. After John’s death in 2017 Betty remained in Hampton for a time but eventually moved to be closer to her daughter. The final phase of Betty’s life was at Brookdale Assisted Living in Rome, where she was proud to be the only female veteran, and where she had the support and care of devoted aides.

Betty is survived by her daughter Sherre Harrington and her spouse Christina Bucher, of Rome, Georgia and her granddaughter Sarah Dryden O’Brien and her spouse Jackson O’Brien, of Minneapolis, Minnesota.

A remembrance of Betty’s life will be held in Hampton, South Carolina later in the summer.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.Daniels-FuneralHome.com for the Harrington family.