Betty S. Wilburn

 In the early morning hours of March 6, 2024, Betty Lou Sappington Wilburn passed from this earthly life into new life in her everlasting home to be with her Savior Jesus Christ. She was born the second of three daughters on November 4, 1933, to Thomas and Lucille Sappington. She was preceded in her passing by her loving husband, Theodore “Ted” Carlton Wilburn and by both her sisters, Martha Craig, and Shirley Garza. Betty leaves behind two daughters, Julia Davis of Memphis, TN and Terri Wilburn of Kingsville, TX. She also leaves behind five grandchildren, Walter Davis, David Muse, Aaron Muse, Hannah Reid, and Kaitlyn Ferrari, and fourteen great-grandchildren as well as many nieces and nephews. The family would like to express their deepest gratitude for the care and compassion shown to Betty by the staff at Lonestar Ranch and Rehabilitation for the 8 and a half years she was under their care. After visiting other places, this is the place that Betty herself chose to be her last earthly home, and the staff at Lonestar made it just that – her home.

Betty was a loving wife and mother and a faithful friend who frequently visited or did something nice for the sick. It was in the early years of their marriage that she and Ted came to know Jesus as their personal savior when Ted transferred to Birmingham, Alabama with his job. No matter what life may have thrown at them, they never lost their faith in God. Every year in the spring, she spent long hours making summer clothes for the girls, letting them help pick out patterns and fabric, to make outfits to take to Child Evangelism Summer Camp. But she didn’t just send them to camp, she and her husband went, too. Ted went as a boys’ counselor and she went as a teacher, both sharing God’s love and His word with children.

It is this faith that after her passing speaks loudly of her life. Two people, both from different walks of life, took the time to tell of what it meant to them that she shared her faith and led them to know Jesus Christ as Savior. One told of a dysfunctional home with no peace who found peace when he visited their home, and Betty shared the gospel of Jesus Christ with him. The other—a very tortured young girl who is still today grateful that she was counted a friend and taken to church with Betty’s family on a regular basis. She said we might never know how much that time with us and at church meant to her. Betty continued to share her faith even after the passing of her husband as she talked with her new neighbors in her apartment complex. Betty Lou Sappington Wilburn leaves behind a living legacy, not just of family members but, of souls.