Betsy Chandler

Betsy Matthews Chandler, 85, died in Raleigh, NC, on June 11, 2015, of complications from pneumonia. She was born in Burlington on October 14, 1929, to Alfred Glenn and Ethel Stout Matthews. Betsy graduated from Burlington High School and from the secretarial program of Woman's College in Greensboro "W.C.". On November 21, 1948, she married Harvey Franklin Chandler, the man who asked her for a date the first time they met. "She had the prettiest legs I'd ever seen," he always said. Betsy loved to work, and she worked many years for Burlington Industries. In 1968, she and Frank and their three daughters moved to Johnson City, TN, where Betsy was very active in the Newcomers Club and the Woman's Club of that city. Returning to live in Burlington in 1977, Betsy and Frank renovated his family's home in Union Ridge. Betsy returned to the working world and spent the final years of her career at Wachovia Bank. After retirement, Betsy's pretty legs began to fail, and her mobility lessened each passing year. Books, many books, of all sorts and topics, filled her days. She watched hours of news programs and was always well-informed on current topics. Her coffee pot was always full, and she'd encourage friends and family to join her in a cup of "cawfee." BB "beautiful Betsy" loved many things, first and foremost her husband and her family. She welcomed sons-in-law and doted on grandchildren, and in the last few years, their spouses. It was "heaven" for her to sit on the porch at the beach, watch the ocean, feel the breeze, and joke about the two ever-present grackles perched on the gazebo, whom she named after her parents, Ethel and Glenn. And Christmas. How she lived for Christmas Eve celebrations and the annual games of Charades, whether she was playing or shouting out answers for both teams. Many wonderful memories will live in her family's hearts forever. In the last years of his life, Frank was "nurse" to Betsy as her legs weakened, and she steadily declined from using a cane to a walker and finally a wheelchair. In 2012, the two of them moved to Raleigh to live with their oldest daughter. Frank died the next year, leaving Betsy with a huge vacancy her family tried to fill. Still, she missed him greatly. Her family loves to think of the two of them, both strong and renewed, jitter-bugging once again to "In The Mood". Betsy was preceded in death by her parents and her husband. She is survived by her three girls, Candy Chandler Dahl and her husband David of Raleigh, Jane Chandler Camper and her husband Bo, and Gale Chandler, all of Johnson City, Tennessee; her beloved grandchildren, Matthew Chandler Dahl and his wife Sarah, and Emily Dahl McLoughlin and her husband Tim, all of Raleigh; and her brother, William Mack Matthews and his wife Carole of Burlington; and many nieces, nephews and cousins. The funeral service will be held at 3 p.m. on Sunday, June 14, 2015, at Union Ridge Church, officiated by the Reverend Dan Ficklin. The body will lie in state in the sanctuary from 1:45 to 2:45, and the family will receive friends in the fellowship hall during this time. Immediately following the service, a reception will be held in the fellowship hall. Lowe Funeral Home and Crematory is serving Mrs. Chandler's family. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to Union Ridge Church, 115 Altamahaw/Union Ridge Road, Burlington, NC, 27217. You may sign the online register book at www.lowefuneralhome.com