Betty Sue Harber Upton
79, Columbia
A celebration of life will be held at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 25, 2018, in the sanctuary of the First United Methodist Church of Columbia for Betty Sue Harber Upton, 79, of Columbia, who died on Sunday, Feb. 18, at her residence. A visitation/reception with follow in the Wesley Center.
She was born in Booneville on July 6, 1938, and was the daughter of Orville and Kitty Harber. An active and popular student in school, as well as her Methodist Youth Fellowship, she attended Northeast Mississippi Junior College and Lambuth College in Jackson, Tenn. After transferring to Mississippi State, she met and then married Korean Vet Garland Upton. They took turns going to school and holding a job during years at the University of Tennessee and Ole Miss, until he completed his law degree. She eventually earned her Masters of Social Work at the University of Southern Mississippi.
The young couple settled in Columbia in the early 1960s becoming active members of the church and community.
Even while raising two boys, Betty held positions in the Welfare Department, Columbia Training School, Mississippi Rural Center and for 20 years as a social worker for East Marion School.
She was a charter member of the Fine Arts Club, president of the Wesleyan Service Guild and chair of the Church Council on Ministries. She taught the Conner Sunday School Class and was instrumental in creating the first infant day care program at the First United Methodist Church as well as serving as a tutor.
She received the Junior Auxiliary Outstanding Citizen award in 1979 and Mother of the Year from Millsaps College’s Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity in 1988.
After the death of son, Jim, she became a member of Compassionate Friends and later, the Charlotte Yarborough Book Club and Cancer Survivors Group. Over the past 12 years, she frequently attended Our Home Universalist Unitarian Church in Ellisville.
She was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Garland; son, Jim Upton; sister, Sukey Long, and niece, Tina Long.
Survivors include her son, John of Memphis, Tenn; nephew, Bobby Tolleson of Mantachie, and a host of Harber, Lewis, and Upton nieces, nephews and cousins, all of whom loved and were loved by ‘Aunt Betty.’
She requested that any memorials go to First United Methodist Church of Columbia, your own church, or the Marion County Food Pantry (P.O. Box 27).
