Betty Sue Harrelson Helton, 92, passed away on February 19, 2017. She was
born January 6, 1925 in Waco, NC, the second child of Asbury Carr and Willie
Jane Gardner Harrelson. Betty worked on the family farm and attended Waco
High School, where she centered her girls' basketball team and was class
salutatorian.

Working as a controller for Seaboard Coast Line Railroad in Sanford, NC, she
met H. L. "Pete" Helton on a blind date. They married on June 30, 1945 in
Waco, were married for 72 years, and had two daughters. Moving to Charlotte,
Betty worked for the Westbrook-Norton Insurance Company until Pete was
transferred to Detroit.

The young family returned to Charlotte in 1956. Betty's sewing and gardening
skills kept her family well-dressed and well-fed. Eight years later Betty
and Pete bought York Road Tackle Shop near the corner of Highway 49 and
Shopton Road West, expanding it into Pete and Betty's York Road General
Store. The store was a community hub with customers from all walks of life.
During this time, Betty also worked for the auto leasing branch of Barclays
American as an executive. They sold the store after almost a quarter
century. Betty next worked as a park naturalist at McDowell Park, then at
the NC Welcome Center on I-77. Betty enjoyed nature and the outdoors,
accompanying her family on fishing expeditions to the beach and Canada, and
took birding trips to places like Hawaii and Kenya. An active Girl Scout
leader, she took her troops on the Appalachian Trail, to Canada and the
Caribbean; served as vice-president of the Hornet's Nest Girl Scout Council;
and directed Riverview Day Camp. Betty was a member of Central Steele Creek
Presbyterian Church, serving as an elder and President of the Women of the
Church. She was also member of Steele Creek Eastern Star Lodge 339.

Betty was preceded in death by her husband Pete, parents, and siblings
Deloras H. Wood and Michael A. Harrelson, Ph.D.

She is survived by her daughters Sally (Barry) Childs-Helton and Cindy
(Wade) Shepard, grandsons Miles (Megan) and Mitchell Shepard,
great-grandchildren Hayes, Bennett and Celia Shepard, brother Lewis G.
Harrelson, D.V.M. (Sarah), sister-in-law Judy Harrelson, and nieces and
nephews.

The family wishes to thank Betty's caregivers Laura, Totianna, Elaine, and
Maggie for their loving and patient care.

The family extends sincere gratitude and appreciation to the staff members
of Hospice and Palliative Care Charlotte Region.

The family will receive friends Wednesday, February 22 from 4:30-6:30 p.m.
at Central Steele Creek Presbyterian Church, Charlotte.

Graveside service and burial will be at St. Paul United Methodist Church,
Waco, on February 23 at 11:00 a.m.

The memorial service and celebration of life is February 23 at 3:30p.m. at
Central Steele Creek Presbyterian Church.

Memorial contributions can be made to Steele Creek Volunteer Fire
Department Station No. 2, 7535 Buckland Rd., Charlotte 28279 and to Hospice
and Palliative Care Charlotte Region, 1420 East 7th St., Charlotte 28204.

Arrangements have been entrusted to Stamey-Tysinger Funeral Home & Cremation
Center, Fallston.