Betty Louise Siegle Stark, of Richmond, Va., died on Christmas Eve, Saturday, Dec. 24, at the age of 90. Born Nov. 19, 1932 to Arthur Goodwin Siegle and Mattie Estelle (Thomas) Siegle in Denver, Colo., she is preceded in death by her parents, her husband, the Rev. Dr. Rufus Haywood. Stark, II, her brother, Thomas David Siegle, and her son, Thomas Haywood Stark.
She is survived by her brothers, Rev. John Arthur (Mary) Siegle, Dr. Robert Blanton Siegle, sister-in-law, Mary Ann Stark Michel, her children, Walter Goodwin (Betsy) Stark, Rev. Paul Cushman (Dr. Traci) Sittason Stark, Sarah Anne (Charles) Reed; grandchildren, Michael (Emily) Stark, Jonathan (Sara) Stark, Dr. Eden Sittason Stark, Savannah Sittason Stark and Hunter Sittason Stark, Larus Reed, Robertson Reed; and great-grandchildren, Oliver, Eleanor, Reid and Sally Stark. She is also survived and remembered by numerous nieces, nephews, great nieces, great nephews, cousins and friends.
Betty Lou began life in the high mountains of Colorado where she was filled with an adventurous spirit. She grew up in Annandale, Va. and completed high school at age 16. She started college studying nuclear physics, but upon hearing a sermon while home on break, she felt a call to serve the church. Stark graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Duke University in 1953, with a Bachelor of Arts in Religious Education. She married Rufus on Aug. 29, 1953 and together they served United Methodist churches in Leesburg, Burlington, Swepsonville, Clayton, Wilmington, Raleigh and Morehead City, N.C. before returning to Raleigh and serving the Methodist Home for Children. In retirement Betty Lou and Rufus moved to Hayesville, where they attended First United Methodist Church.
Betty Lou, a faithful Christian, was a member of the United Methodist Church. She was a Christian educator and active in Minister’s Wives of the N.C. Annual Conference, United Methodist Women and a board member of Hinton Rural Life Center in Hayesville. She was a loving wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother who taught her family about God’s unconditional and steadfast love through her life’s work and example.
As family walked with her on numerous trails, she readily knew the botanical names of all the plants and wildflowers she passed along the way and instilled in her family a fascination with the natural world around them. She loved her many dogs through the years, most recently her collie, Britlyn. Hospitality was one of her gifts and through decorating, baking, cooking and entertaining, visitors felt at home. Betty Lou created many beautiful gifts for family and friends using felt appliqués, cross stitch, embroidery, quilting, knitting, crewel work and sewing from patterns including her own designs. A treasured example of crewel embroidery captures a blooming apple tree well grounded in roots and graced by a butterfly which reads, “Each day is God’s gift to you. Make it blossom and grow into a thing of beauty.”
A Celebration of Life will take place at 3:30 p.m. Epiphany Friday, Jan. 6 in the Sim Center of Lakewood Retirement Community, 1900 Lauderdale Dr., Richmond, Va. 23238.
The Interment of her ashes will take place at Edenton Street United Methodist Church, 228 W Edenton St., Raleigh, N.C. 27603 at 3 p.m. Sunday, May 21.
Donations may be made in her memory to Hinton Rural Life Center, 2330 Hinton Center Rd, Hayesville, N.C. 28904, where Betty Lou Stark, Rufus, and her father, Arthur Siegle, served as board members.