|
DECATUR — Parishioners of Sts. Peter and Paul Church gathered
June 2 to celebrate the life and ministry of a fellow parishioner and to
dedicate a memorial garden in her honor.
Betty Pothier, born Elizabeth Jane Cann in Boston on Sept. 13,
1943, died Nov. 18, 1999 of an aneurysm at the age of 56. She had been a member
of Sts. Peter and Paul Parish since 1973, active in parish ministries and
archdiocesan organizations.
Married to her husband, David, for 32 years, she was the mother of
four children, Timothy, Joyce, Stephen and Paulette Pothier Greene, and the
grandmother of Allia Edith and Kal’El Craig Greene. Her parents, Edith and
Charles Cann, and her brothers, David, Charles and James, also survive her.
Mrs. Pothier attended Catholic elementary and high school in North
Cambridge, Mass. After graduating from high school in 1961, she entered Malden
Hospital Nursing School and graduated as a registered nurse in 1964.
On May 6, 1967, the Pothiers were married and resided in Medford,
Mass., until moving to Atlanta in 1972, and Sts. Peter and Paul Parish in 1973.
Generous with her time and talents, Mrs. Pothier was active in the
Cedar Grove Elementary School and Kittridge Magnet Elementary School PTAs, the
Cedar Grove Garden Club, the DeKalb County Health Center, the DeKalb Federation
of Garden Clubs, the Origami Society, the March of Dimes’ Better Infant
Births program and Villa International. She taught origami, knitting and
crocheting to schoolchildren and volunteered at health screenings.
Active in the Atlanta Archdiocesan Council of Catholic Women, she
was an executive vice president and parish Woman of the Year. She was active in
the Sts. Peter and Paul Women’s Council and the parish St. Elizabeth
Circle. She was involved in eucharistic ministry, prison ministry, the 11:30
a.m. Sunday school, nursery, adult enrichment, Church Women United and the
parish sewing group.
She helped to coordinate the annual “Have a Smile” party
at Milledgeville State Hospital and drove a group there each year to deliver
gifts.
Devoted to her family and her faith, Mrs. Pothier followed the
life of Christ and the example of Mary and encouraged others to do the same.
She held her friends in high regard and was committed to Sts. Peter and Paul
Parish.
The memorial garden was designed by the St. Elizabeth Circle and
the parish Garden Club. The March of Dimes’ Better Infant Births
organization donated $2,000 to the garden, to honor the woman who had worked
tirelessly for their program. Mae Barron, a friend of 28 years, spearheaded the
idea to dedicate the memorial garden in her friend’s honor.
The garden, which features a statue depicting the Assumption of
Mary, was dedicated by Father Richard Wise, pastor of Sts. Peter and Paul
Church, during a brief ceremony. Those attending included friends and Mrs.
Pothier’s parents, her husband, children and grandchildren, and two of her
brothers. |
