Elizabeth “Betty” McBrayer Sasser

Elizabeth “Betty” McBrayer Sasser, 92, passed peacefully on October 17, 2020 at Grace Ridge Retirement Community in Morganton. Betty was born on July 19, 1928 in Shelby, N.C., to Gerald Fulenwider McBrayer, Sr. and Sarah Hubert McBrayer. She spoke fondly of her early years in Shelby, spending time with her paternal grandparents and many relatives.
Betty’s Shelby grandmother, Dovie (“Nanny”) Suttle McBrayer, instilled Betty’s love of baking. Biscuits and rolls were a staple and Nanny loved to share her kitchen and cooking knowledge with Betty. The family moved to Reidsville, NC when Betty was young, and she grew up there enjoying small town life, often traveling with her family to Shelby and to Crawfordville, GA to visit her maternal grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. She graduated from Salem College in 1949, receiving a degree in Elementary Education.
Betty’s first teaching job took her to Asheboro, NC and while there she met her future husband, Charles “Charlie” Edward Sasser, on a blind date to the circus in Greensboro. After marrying
in 1951, Betty and Charlie moved to Morganton where he worked for the News Herald. After brief periods living in Reidsville and Charlotte as Charlie changed careers, they returned to Morganton and settled there to enjoy 65+ years of marriage in a community they cherished. Betty and Charlie raised their four children in the Woodside neighborhood beside lifelong friends, Betty and Sam Ervin and their four children. The two Bettys welcomed as their own all the neighborhood kids, and the two families shared a “no-knock” custom that lasted all their years as neighbors.
Betty was delighted when her brother Jerry and wife Audrey also decided to settle in Morganton and raise their four children there. Many wonderful family holidays, meals and memories were shared between the two families through the years.
Betty taught virtually all grade levels at the North Carolina School for the Deaf during her 27 years of teaching there before retiring to pursue her lifelong interest in cooking by starting a catering business, Betty’s Basket, with Charlie. Throughout their years of catering, Betty and Charlie and their devoted staff enjoyed serving wonderful menus for weddings, community events and
family celebrations, and Betty’s reputation for fine food (not to mention the world’s best pimento cheese) traveled far and wide.
Betty’s second retirement gave her time to travel with family and friends and to continue her volunteer work. Throughout her life, Morganton’s First Presbyterian Church was important to her for worship, volunteering with the youth, her Circle Group, the Women of the Church, and the many trips to one of her favorite places, Montreat. Through First Presbyterian, Betty became involved with a fellow parishioner’s vision of creating Mountain House, the predecessor of Morganton’s Grace Ridge retirement community. Her countless hours and contributions to that project led to being named an honorary founding member of the Mountain House/Grace Ridge Board of Directors.
Betty was also known for her almost daily walks throughout town and at the Greenway and on walking tours all over, with family and friends, especially with friend Helen Patton.
One of Betty’s greatest loves was spending time with her nine grandchildren. “Betty”, “Nana” or “Grandmommie,” no matter the
name, was always eager to share her humor, her gift of listening no matter the topic, and of course, everything she’d learned over the years about cooking.
Betty was always looking out for her friends, especially the elderly. Her many food gifts to others are well remembered: pimento cheese, ham biscuits, cheese biscuits, casseroles, soups, and sandwiches. Her family often teased her about her large cookbook collection and her love of food magazines which she never wanted to part with.
Betty forever inspired her family through a lifetime of seeking opportunities to help those in need. She will be sorely missed. Betty’s spirit lives in our cooking and our good deeds! May that circle be unbroken.
Betty was preceded in death by her husband Charlie, and her brother Jerry. She is survived by sons Mac Sasser; Tom and wife Whitney Sasser; daughter Sarah and husband David Williams; son Pride and wife Charmaine Sasser; her grandchildren, Miles and Holden Sasser, Elizabeth and Henry Williams, Ben and Claire
Sasser, and Liz, Allie and Lucille Sasser; her beloved sister-in-law, Audrey McBrayer; her cherished nieces and nephews, Margot, Dovie, James and Christopher McBrayer and their families; her McBrayer, Suttle, Frazier, Arey and Wray cousins with whom she had so much fun growing up or at family reunions in Shelby; and her Crawfordville, Georgia kin of the Hubert clan, who are now cousins in the Williams, Hill and McKee families of Athens, Atlanta and Danville, among other towns.
Betty was the quintessential “people person.” She treasured all moments, big and small, with her husband and her children, her grandchildren, her nieces, nephews, cousins, and in-laws and her many friends. The family is grateful to those close friends and family who were so attentive during Betty’s last several years. The family also extends their appreciation to the caring staff at Grace Ridge.
The family will bury Betty in a private ceremony at her parents’ plot in Reidsville, NC, on Saturday October 24. A public celebration of Betty’s life for all of her friends and loved ones will be held in Morganton after the pandemic subsides, hopefully in 2021.
The family asks that memorials be directed to Burke United Christian Ministries at 305-B West Union Street, Morganton, NC, 28655 and to First Presbyterian Church, 100 Silver Creek Road, Morganton, NC, 28655. Cards to the family may be sent c/o Sarah Williams, 301 Ervin Road, Morganton, NC, 28655.
To our Mother:
If aught of tender wisdom, or beauty here you find, ’tis the echo of her laughter in the garden of my mind.
Anonymous