Betty Blount

July 23, 1934 - January 8, 2015

Mrs. Betty Blount, age 80, wife of John Milton Blount, Jr., and a resident of Columbia, passed away Thursday, January 8, 2015 at Signature Healthcare. A memorial service will be held on Monday, January 12, 2015, at 6:00 PM at Heritage Funeral Home with Rev. Jeff Jacob and Dr. Carl Duck officiating. The family will receive friends for 2 hours prior to the service on Monday. Heritage Funeral Home is assisting the family with arrangements. Betty was born on July 23, 1934, in Dublin, Georgia and was the daughter of the late Robert Henry Rowell and Kate Smith Rowell. During her early years, she lived in Mobile, Alabama; Savannah, Georgia; and Charleston, South Carolina. She graduated from high school in Charleston, South Carolina, and attended Georgia Southern College in Statesboro, Georgia for one year. While living with her sister in Aiken, South Carolina, she met and married Milton Blount. They lived in Aiken for 13 years and moved to Columbia in 1968. In 1977, the family moved to Trumbull, Connecticut, and was there until 1983 when Milton retired and they moved back to Columbia. Betty was devoted to her family but after the children were on their own, she began to do volunteer work at Maury Regional Medical Center. She was offered a job in the Radiology Department where she worked for ten years, retiring in 1999. A loving wife and mother, she will be sorely missed by her family and all who knew her. A devout Christian, Betty was an active member of Craft Memorial United Methodist Church. In addition to her husband, she is survived by a son, John Milton Blount, III, of Baltimore, Maryland; a daughter, Katherine (Jim) Lyons of Columbia; and two grandchildren, John Michael Whitley and Cassy Lyons. Several nieces and nephews also survive. Along with her parents, she was preceded in death by her son: Robert Lee Blount. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests contributions to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital: P.O. box 50, Memphis, TN 38101.