Betty Austin Obituary

Mrs. Betty Sue Helms Austin, 85, passed away peacefully in her sleep on October 10, 2025, at McLeod Hospital Loris.  Born December 15, 1939, in Monroe, NC, she was a daughter of the late Lonnie Preston Helms and Glennie Simpson Helms. 

Betty Sue graduated from Marshville High School where she was an avid basketball player and voted most athletic her senior year. She was also a school bus driver her senior year.  After high school, she married Jack Auborn Austin and lived in Monroe, NC.   She went to cosmetology school while her husband was serving in the army.  In addition to becoming a hair stylist, she worked second shift at Chadburn Hosiery Mill in Charlotte, NC until she became a stay-at-home mother of four while also providing in-home childcare. Later, she and her family moved to Marshville, where she was a poultry farmer until her retirement.

Betty Sue was a champion bowler, both in women’s leagues and mixed leagues.  

As a homemaker, Betty Sue was a seamstress, sewing anything from Barbie clothes to formal dresses.  She enjoyed fishing and hosting fish-fries for church groups and family get-togethers, and she made the best hushpuppies in the world!  

She had a sweet love for children, working in the nursery and pre-school classrooms at Lee Park Baptist Church, where she accepted Jesus as her Savior at the age of 24. She was also a choir member most of her adult life.

Even after her memory faded, Betty Sue had a personality that made her among the favorites in Assisted Living Memory Care, always wanting to help wherever she could.     

A funeral service to celebrate the life of Betty will be 11 AM Wednesday, October 15, 2025, at Austin Grove Baptist Church with burial to follow in the church cemetery.  The family will receive friends from 10-10:45 in the church.

Those left to cherish her memory include her husband of 68 years, Jack Austin, her sons, Andy Austin (Alison) of Southport, NC and Robin Austin (Melanie) of Rocky Point, NC; daughters Suzy Palmer (Robert) of Little River, SC and Melissa Magill (Harold) of Loris, SC; grandchildren: Robbie Austin (Vanessa), Sarah Brookins (Chris), Emily Rivers, Michael Ross (Heidi), Mason Ross, Zachary Austin, Lacey Austin, Christian Palmer, Corey Palmer (Kendall), and Autumn Palmer; great-grandchildren: Ally Brookins, Liam Brookins, Elijah Sepulveda, Izabella Palmer and Theodore Ross.

Memorials in her name may be made to Austin Grove Baptist Church or the Alzheimer’s Association.

Morgan & Son Funeral Home is serving the family of Mrs. Austin.