Betty Lane Williams

Betty Lane Williams passed away Saturday, June 24, 2023 at Brookdale Senior Living (Johnson City, TN) following a lengthy struggle with dementia. Betty was born March 12, 1927 to Lillian (Horton) Lane and Holdway E. Lane of Scott County, VA. Lillian said the peach trees were in bloom on that snowy day in March. Betty lived a rambunctious life on the family farm in Rye Cove, VA with her brother Harold and their many pets and farm animals. World War II took her brother overseas, and Betty and her mom to Kingsport, TN. Betty loved being a “city girl” and dancing with her friends to big band music at the Civic Auditorium. She would think of Kingsport as her home for the rest of her life.

Following a divorce, Betty was a hard-working single mother in an era when that was largely unheard of. In addition to raising her daughter Lisa, she was a caretaker for numerous elderly relatives. Betty truly enjoyed her final job as receptionist for the City of Kingsport, and in retirement, the special companionship of her dear friend, Ralph King. She devoted many hours to tending the Horton family farm in Virginia, even discovering a species of wildflower there which grows nowhere else.

She is survived by daughter, Lisa Williams, of Bluff City, TN; nephew, Steven Lane, his wife Liz, and their daughter Chris, of Oakland, CA; and niece, Mary Beth Lane, of Los Gatos, CA.

Betty’s family wishes to express gratitude for the kindness, consideration, and support of the Brookdale staff and Gentiva Hospice.

The family will receive friends from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., Saturday, July 1, 2023 at Hamlett-Dobson Funeral Home, Kingsport.