Mrs. Betty Rouse McNair Obituary - Visitation & Funeral Information

The family of Mrs. Betty Rouse McNair, age 91, wishes to announce her passing, which occurred on Thursday, July 21, 2022. September 27, 1930 was a most glorious day in the Rouse household for it was on that day that Rev. Pilgrim Jesup and Geneva Henderson Rouse welcomed their infant daughter, Betty, into their home in Robeson County, North Carolina. She would be the seventh of thirteen children that they would make a part of their family. Growing up in Lumber Bridge, North Carolina, where she attended school, Betty developed into an avid learner and an outstanding student. Her love of learning would pave the way for her high school graduation and, consequently, earn her the honor of being named as salutatorian of the Oak Ridge High School Class of 1949, where her favorite course of study was home economics. High school graduation, however, was only the first of a number of significant successes and major accomplishments in Betty's life. Not content to end her formal education at the high school level, she proceeded to matriculate further. So in the fall of 1949, Betty pursued the desire to receive a post-secondary education by enrolling in Livingstone College in Salisbury, North Carolina where in a disciplined, organized, and serious manner, she majored in biology and managed to graduate with honors in four years. Marriage came next for Betty. After seven years of courting David McNair and upon his return from the U.S. Army, Betty and David were officially united as a couple on June 27, 1954. Within several years that followed, she and her loving husband added three sons that would complete their family unit-George David, Timothy Wingate, and Hiram Francis. Marriage and a family enabled Betty to hone her domestic skills as she has spent many years taking excellent care of her home, her husband, and her children. As time progressed, though, Betty stepped outside of her household to engage in graduate school studies and begin a career. For a period of three and a half years, 1960-63, before settling in to do post-baccalaureate work and while residing in New York City, she was employed by the city's Welfare Department as a social investigator. Then in 1965, Betty was awarded a Master of Arts Degree in secondary science education, biology major, from Teachers College of Columbia University. Subsequently Betty devoted several years to the profession of education. Her illustrious teaching career began in Laurinburg, North Carolina at Scotland High School where from 1971-78, she taught biology and served as chairperson of the Science Department. Relocating to Durham, North Carolina, Betty later became a teacher of physical and earth sciences at Lowe's Grove Middle School. She ended her professional teaching career as a teacher of advanced biology and biology at Northern High School in the city of Durham where she once again chaired her department and officially retired from the profession in the spring of 1992. She leaves to cherish her memory three sons, George David, Timothy Wingate and Hiram Francis; sister, Hattie Mae Evans; and a host of extended family members and friends. Homegoing services to honor the life and legacy of Mrs. Betty Rouse McNair are as follows: Alpha Kappa Alpha Ceremonial Rites, 11:45 a.m., Visitation, Friday, July 29, 2022, from 12:00 p.m. - 12:55 p.m., with the Celebration of Life Service beginning at 1:00 p.m., at St. Joseph AME Church, 2521 Fayetteville Street, Durham, North Carolina 27707. Interment will take place at Markham Memorial Gardens.

Mrs. Betty Rouse McNair

September 27, 1930 - July 21, 2022