Betty Ellison

ELIZABETH EILEEN “BETTY” ELLISON, 88, of Largo, FL formerly of Arthur, IL passed away at 6:42 P.M. EST on Thursday, April 4, 2013 at Tierra Pines Center in Largo, FL.

Funeral services will be held at 2:00 P.M. Thursday, April 11, 2013 at the Vine Street Christian Church, 249 South Vine St. in Arthur, IL. Rev. Dawn Ingram will officiate. Burial will be in the Point Pleasant Cemetery in Long Creek. Visitation will be held from 4:00 P.M. to 7:00 P.M. Wednesday, April 10, 2013 at the Edwards Funeral Home, 221 E. Main St., Arcola, IL.

Betty was born on January 31, 1925 in Dalton City, IL. She was a daughter of Roy C. and Rosa E. (Duncan) Rhodes. She married Harold M. Newberry in 1942 and later married Warren Ellison in 1970. Warren passed away in 1997

Survivors include two sons, Richard Newberry and his wife Julie of Seminole, FL and Dan Newberry and his wife Judie of Monson, MA; two grandchildren, Jennifer (Newberry) Bartosz of Granby, MA and Claire (Newberry) Gambotto of Stanwell Park Australia and four great-grandchildren Eva Bartosz, Meredith Bartosz, Amelia Gambotto and Joshua Gambotto along with several nieces, nephews, grand-nieces and grand-nephews.

She was preceded in death by her first husband Harold Newberry, and also by her second husband Warren Ellison; ten siblings, Leah Bradbury, Blain Rhodes, Haline Travis, Hazel Stare, Charles Rhodes, Emmett Rhodes, Fleta Dugan, Oma Baker, Kenneth Dugan and Donald Dugan.

Betty retired as an executive secretary at the Wabash Association Hospital in Decatur, IL with over twenty years of service.

Betty was a member of the Vine Street Christian Church in Arthur, IL, the Order of the Eastern Star No.113 of Decatur, IL, the Moose Lodge in Mattoon, IL and the Kaskaskia Country Club in Arcola, IL where she enjoyed playing bridge. She also enjoyed bowling, golfing, dancing and her grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Vine Street Christian Church, and in honor of Betty; please relive a pleasant memory of her, hug your children, remember your parents and say a prayer. Then live life to the fullest. This is what Betty would have wanted the most.