Obituary
Betty Lyles

I’d like to tell you about our mother. She deserves this. According to her wishes, no services are planned at this time. She donated her body to the Duke Anatomical Gifts Program. We are proud of that. Mama had a documented genius IQ - and she could do practically anything. What a multi talented girl. She rebuilt an engine on a 1957 Chevy with our granddaddy. She built our beach house at Ocean Isle with her dad (Pop to us) and our father. It had a tongue and groove hardwood floor, plus the same for the walls and the ceiling. She drew and painted incredibly well. We have some of her pieces in our homes. She cooked and baked like you might read about. Freshly cooked breakfast and dinner were served for our family every single day, accompanied by vitamins to make us strong and healthy. She sewed all of our cheerleading outfits and even a prom gown for me. Friends of ours were given a welcome home when they were in need of a safe and loving environment My cousin Mike’s parents both died when he was 14. Mama and Daddy took him in as part of our family. Our friends were always welcome and wanted. (Many of you are reading this and saying, “that’s me!”). She was a very good mother who raised us to be practical, rational and reasonable. She loved us very much and we knew it. Her brain was amazing and it was almost scary how intelligent she was. Mama knew the correct answer to just about every question we ever asked her. Rarely did she not respond correctly to every single Jeopardy challenge. Her grammar and her manners were impeccable. She possessed a wicked sense of humor if you were smart enough to catch on. She played several instruments- guitar, piano, ocarina, harmonica, accordion, ukulele…. She played trumpet with the high school marching band when she was in fourth grade. She was extraordinarily talented at piano from a very young age. She was very involved with community theater and was a talented actress and loved creating truly realistic sets and props. She also had a strong command of the Spanish language. Our mother grew up in Fairmont, NC and attended Duke University at the age of 17. She graduated at 20. She was born in 1935, so it was rather rare for a female to be accepted to Duke in those times. After that, she married our father, who was a “famous” basketball star at the old Wake Forest University. (Billy Lyles). They were united in marriage on the steps to the house of Daddy’s college basketball coach, Bones McKinney. (Boylan Avenue in old Raleigh.) She then commenced a career as a school teacher, as women often did back in those days, and as her mother had done before her. Several years later, just when they had about given up on conceiving a child and were considering adoption, Catherine was born - and then they moved to Richmond County. There they eventually built their home in a beautiful neighborhood with rolling hills and great schools within walking distance. We had a wonderful childhood thanks to our parents. Then our brother Murray was born, and sixteen months after that, baby Laura (myself) was born - eight plus years after Catherine. When Daddy died in 2006 after many years of declining health and suffering from severe rheumatoid arthritis, our mother bravely uprooted from Rockingham. She bought a house across the street from my sister in the big city of Raleigh. That must have taken a lot of courage for a lady of her generation. She was bold and fearless and tried to teach us to be the same. We are thankful to have been by her side when she took that last breath just as she was with us when we took our first. She was our very best friend and our biggest champion. There is nothing in the world like the bond between a mother and her daughters. Rest in peace, our dearly beloved Lizard. We will love you fiercely to eternity and beyond.