By Staff
Elizabeth Mather Garrenton, age 63, of Washington, NC, died on Sunday, August 23, 2009, at Ridgewood Manor in Washington, NC. She had been in failing health for several months and attended with loving care by the Ridgewood Manor staff.
Ms. Garrenton was born in Rocky Mount, NC on February 21, 1946 to Connell George and Hilda Mather Garrenton of Bethel, NC, both deceased. She was married to Bruce Strickland in 1965 and to Raymond Abeyounis in 1979, both of whom preceded her in death. She was raised in Bethel, NC and lived in Richmond, VA and Waltham, MA before moving to Washington, NC in 1976.
Betty, as she was known to friends, graduated from Bethel High School and subsequently attended Barton College in Wilson, NC and Richmond Professional Institute in Richmond, VA, where she received a degree in fine arts. She was employed by Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company in Richmond and by Cahners Publications in Boston, where she was Associate Art Director for “Electrical Design News” magazine. She was also Graphics Supervisor at Flanders Filters in Washington, NC for seven years.
She always wanted to be a cosmetologist, so she attended Beaufort County Community College in Washington, NC, graduating in the cosmetology program in 1976. She was a hair stylist at Creative Hair Designs and later Hot Locks Hair Salon in Washington, NC until her retirement for health reasons in 2005.
Betty had a lifelong love for animals and art, and later for computers. In recent years, she maintained her own website which featured state-of-the-art graphics.
She is survived by two sisters: Connie G. Hackney, and her husband Jim, of Washington, NC; and Joan M. Garrenton of Punta Gorda, FL; two nieces and a nephew, Jane Hackney Kemsley and husband Dave, of Tucson, AZ, Lisa Garrard Weekley and husband Dana, of Punta Gorda, FL, and Kenneth Ross Hackney and wife Janice, of Havelock, NC. Her sister, Bobbie Garrenton, preceded her in death in 1994.
A memorial service will be held at Zion Episcopal Church, 7302 Highway 264 East, Washington, NC at 2 p.m. on Sunday, September 13, 2009 with the Rev. Barbara Chaffee presiding. Visitation will follow at the Zion Parish Hall, with interment later in the day at the Bethel Cemetery in Bethel, NC. 
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Marion L. Sheppard Cancer Center, 1209 Brown Street, Washington, NC 27889 or to the Beaufort County Humane Society, PO Box 8, Washington, NC 27889.
You may share a memory with the family by visiting www.hillsidefuneralservice.com
Hillside Funeral Service of Washington is serving the Garrenton family.
Paid Obituary