Betty Arrington

Betty "Becky, Beck" Lou Ennis Arrington May 16, 1936 Atco (Cartersville GA.) - Dec 22, 2025 Stone Mtn. GA ... Age: 89 years young 3rd of 4 children begat of Father: Tom Ennis (NC) & Mother: Minnie Evans (Barnesville GA) June 17, 1955, Married in Atlanta to Joe Boy Arrington (Thomaston, GA) ... Age: 19 years young Survived by: husband: Joe Arrington ... son: Scott Arrington & his wife Marilyn Purple, daughter: Amy Jo Arrington Powers & her husband Jack Powers, sibling: Susie Ennis Crews grandchildren: Heather, Hannah, Hayley, Hope, Holden Shipley , great-grandchildren: Marlee, Nova, Onyx, Mirabel Predeceased by: father: Tom Ennis , mother: Minnie Clyde Evans Ennis , siblings: Margaret McCoy Ennis , Tommy Ennis "Becky, Beck" Lou Ennis Arrington, was a beautiful, spirited, spunky, fun-loving, and caring, Christian wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. She went to sleep in the LORD on Monday, 22 December, 2025. Memorial Service will be held at: A.S.Turner & Sons, 2773 N.Decatur Rd. Decatur, GA 30033 ... on Tue 6 Jan, 2026 3pm https://www.asturner.com/ (404) 292-1551 Graveside Service at: Greenwood Cemetery, 100 Adams St. Barnesville, GA 30204 ... on Wed 7 Jan 2026 11am (770) 358-0181 Becky married Joe Arrington on June 17, 1955, in Atlanta GA. This sacred union lasted for 70 wonderful years until her recent death. Becky was born on May 16, 1936, at the Goodyear Mill village in Atco, GA. She was the 3rd of 4 children born to Tom Ennis, a Goodyear plant manager from N.Carolina and Minnie Clyde Evans Ennis his wife and homemaker from Barnesville GA. At the tender age of 12, her parents divorced and her now single mother, took the two youngest girls, Becky and Susie, and returned to her hometown of Barnesville GA. Minnie never remarried. This sudden shift in social and financial status along with the loss of her father, while traumatic, seemed to give Becky a certain inner strength, resilience, and humility she carried with quiet dignity for the rest of her life, serving her well and benefitting all that came to know her.

Upon graduating high school in Barnesville, she left for the big city, Atlanta, to find work. She started in the taxes & payroll department of a large department store while living with her older brother Tommy and his wife Nan. Less than a year she was at the Hartford Insurance company working along the same lines. It is here she met her life's love, Joe Boy Arrington, who was following a similar flight path from a small Georgia town to the big city for work. Both were 19 years old when married in 1955, after about a year of courtship. Joe was about a month younger than Becky and he always quipped with folks "I married an older woman". When they finally had enough money and job security to consider buying a house and mortgage they got pregnant, had their 1st of 2 children in early 1959, a son they named Scott. It had to be a short name because Becky wanted a name no-one could shorten as he progressed through life. Then they purchased their first home in Forest Park, GA. Three years later came a daughter, Amy Jo (after her Father). Being proactive and wanting the best for their kids, they sold their home and bought another home up the road in Tucker GA., because at the time Dekalb county was rated the best school system in the southeast. However, before Scott could enter the 1st grade, Joe's employer, 3M, transferred him to Jacksonville FL. ... Until her youngest entered 1st grade, Becky worked as a stay-at-home mom and homemaker. But when her mornings and early afternoons freed up, she went back to working for pay. Driving a kindergarten bus for a church, allowed her to be done by 2pm so she could be there for her kids when they came home. From that time on, Becky always had a paying job that allowed her to return home by early afternoon to tend to her children. This was before "Latchkey Kids" became a popular phrase or the acceptable norm. Just before her oldest entered high school, Joe took a new job that put them back in Atlanta, and back in Dekalb county for the school system's high marks. Becky got another job working at JCPenny in the tax/payroll department at a nearby store that again allowed her to be home by 3pm. Neither Becky or Joe grew up with any strong denominational affiliations, Becky a little Presbyterian-ism, Joe a little Baptist-ism. But both were strongly convinced not only did "good parents" provide for a good education but some sort of Bible-based learning at a church would be in order. Joe had a good friend in high school who was Catholic and liked its hierarchal structure and traditions but neither he nor Becky could go along the infallibility of the Pope, so that led them to Protestantism and then to the Episcopalian denomination, similar to Catholicism but without the Pope. Just after their first child was born the family joined the Episcopal Church, both in Jacksonville and Atlanta. Over the years attendance waned mainly due to unsavory church politics. So in the home and in their public life they taught their children and put into practice the golden rule , "treat others the way you would want to be treated" plus whatever you do, do it as best as you possibly can, ... and its legal !" As an empty nester Becky increased her hours at JCPenny district office in Atlanta, shifting to purchasing and procurement and then retired after 25+ years but only because they shut down the Alanta office and neither she nor her husband wanted to move. But Becky was never one to be idle, not one to let grass grow under feet, she landed a job working as a chief of staff for a Dekalb county commissioner.

Ten years later she retired again. But at 74 she still wasn't done, she got herself hired again to work in the secretarial pool at the state capital during the first 4 months of each year while the state legislature was in session. Only when the monstrous capital steps became too much to tackle did she resign at age 79. Becky loved to work and be active and she wasn't done. All through her working career she baked cakes, cookies, and pastries from scratch and took them to the office and gave them to fellow employees and legislators. This was her secret weapon to ingratiate herself into whatever environment she worked in and it worked. But now starting her eighth decade at home, she turned baking sweets into a small business, however she still gave away about as much as she sold. It was just her nature to serve others and make them happy. Barnesville (her hometown) is pecan country and she loved using them in all her desserts. Family still there, would make sure she got a couple or more 5 gallon buckets of unshelled pecans come late summer when they fell off the trees. She would spend whole days hunched over on the porch step shelling pecans. Her son finally constructed a mount for the sheller so she could sit comfortably in a porch chair. If a new neighbor moved in, her and her husband would be over shortly with some of her cookies or cakes. If she saw young neighborhood kids playing nearby she went over with her candy basket, OK'd it with the parents, and gave them a few pieces. Pretty soon she'd be hearing light knocks on the door and it would be those same children asking for Ms Becky and the candy basket would come out. As Ms Becky got older, falls and arthritis became issues and she got both hips replaced and a reconstructed arm/shoulder as a result. Each time excellent Emory surgeons patched her up, but that's not enough. One has to put in weeks/months of rehab work to even get close to being normal again. But work was Becky's pleasure and the therapists were always amazed at the speed of her recovery. Becky was not one who laughed easily, but usually during visits with family and friends, someone might say or do something she found funny and she could belt out genuine, gut felt laugh that would turn heads, not because it was annoying but because it was so perfectly infectious and everybody would automatically wanted to laugh with her. She was also quiet, humble and chose her words carefully but never afraid to give you her honest opinion on a matter. In lieu of flowers, do a kind act for someone not in your normal circle of friends and acquaintances, a stranger, maybe bake and take some cookies to a shut-in or a new person to the neighborhood.

Afterwards, prayerfully read Proverbs 31:10-31 "Poem to a Virtuous Woman" ... I did, and in my opinion Becky Lou Ennis Arrington checks all the boxes ... I miss her so much and I'm sure I'm not the only one. ... bye for now Becky, hope to see you in the resurrection.

Repast: Becky's favorite restaurant Magnolia Room Cafeteria 4450 Hugh Howell Rd #10, Tucker, GA 30084 (770) 864-1845 at Service please sign up if you plan to attend, we may need reserve a room.