Betty J. Ellerson was born on January 21, 1945 to Aggie Schumacher and Luther Eubanks in Chicago, IL, where she was raised for the most of her young life. She stayed behind in Chicago, IL and was raised by her Godmother, Katie Williams. She left Chicago and moved to Ypsilanti and it was here that she met the love of her life, Eddie James Ellerson on April 14, 1964. After only four short years of marriage, Betty lost her love on November 11, 1968, due to a car accident in Germany.
After a long struggle with multiple medical challenges, the last one cancer, she made her transition on Thursday, December 26, 2019 at 4:37 a.m. at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ann Arbor, MI.
Betty received her early education in the Chicago Cook County School District and continued her education at Eastern Michigan University where she received her bachelor’s in social work in 1979. In 1982 she went further and received her Master of Social Work from the University of Michigan.
She retired from the State of Michigan Mental Health Facility and the University of Michigan, where she served as a Social Worker. She then opened her own private practice where she was a Family Counselor.
Betty loved God and showed it in many ways. She joined the Brown Chapel AME church under the leadership of Pastor Jerry Hatter. She served in many capacities: Lay Organization, Clothes Closet, Good Shephard, Breakfast Fellowship meal at 8:00 a.m. service, Hospitality Ministry, assist with monthly calendars, served in the Virtuous Women’s Ministry, and truly loved Bible Study. She went to several Bible Studies during the week.
When her brother-in-law, Curtis D. Reed, became a pastor, in January 2015, she also dedicated her services to Latter Rain Ministries COGIC. She served on the Advisory Board and donated her time, substance and presence in the resurrection of the ministry. Amazingly so, she served diligently as a dedicated member and well-wisher in both ministries.
She was passionate about serving and investing in many people lives. She became the surrogate mother, of her sister-in-law, Lovella E. “Val” Reed. Val was about 12 years old when Betty started depositing in her life and she watched her grow from an extreme introvert to a confident woman who started believing she was worth being loved. She extended this love to her great-nephew Lamarr Franklin Murphy whom she adopted July 30, 2004 and his last name became hyphenated as Murphy-Ellerson.
Betty also was an animal lover, at one time she had as many as 15 cats which lived inside and outside of her house. She was known in her neighborhood on Ainsworth Circle in Ypsilanti, MI as the “Cat woman”. As the years passed and the cats died off, she extended her love to two Shih-tzu dogs, Micah and Chloe’ and two cats, Tabbatha “Tabby” and Allison “Allie”. They all were rescued from the Human Society.
She was a world traveler. She visited: China, Japan, Russia, Australia, Canada, Germany, Alaska, and many other places. God Blessed her with some very close friends, that were more like her sisters to travel with her: Carrie Mears Gardner, Marita Dishon, Polly Varhol, Donna Elmore, Mary Ellen Hynes, Trudy Simone, Barbara O’Neal (deceased). Their friendships spread over 40 years.
She will be remembered by her surrogate daughter, Lovella E. “Val”(Curtis) Reed , son, Lamarr Murphy-Ellerson; her Goddaughters, Monique R. (Michael) Foster, Jena L. (Andrew) Green and Corrine Hughes;
brother-in-law, Harold (Juanita) Ellerson; Sisters-in-law: Sally Ellerson, Juanita Richard, Annette Ellerson and Jocelyn Ellerson, her special sister-friends, a host of nephews, nieces, cousins and friends.
She was preceded in death by husband, her parents, her siblings: Sarah Eubanks and Billie J. Williams, her son, Michael Edward Ellerson, who passed away at birth, and her Godmother, her mother-in-law, Louella Ellerson and father-in-law, Seoilure Ellerson; six brothers-in-law and 2 sisters-in-law.
Viewing will be at the Nie Funeral Home, 2400 Carpenter Road, Ann Arbor, MI on Thursday, January 2, 2020 from 4:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. services will be Friday, January 3, 2020 at Brown Chapel AME church, 1043 Michigan Avenue, Ypsilanti, MI, 10:30 a.m., family hour and service begins at 11:00 a.m.