Cordelia Elizabeth “Bettie” McLemore

Cordelia Elizabeth “Bettie” McLemore passed away on May 27, 2017.  A native of Statesboro, Georgia, she was a long-time resident of Sandy Springs and was most recently a resident of St Mary’s Highland Hills Village in Watkinsville.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Orville L. and Cordelia C. McLemore of Statesboro, and her brothers, Gilbert C. McLemore, Sr., Robert E. McLemore, Sr., and Morris T. McLemore.  She is survived by nephews and nieces Gilbert McLemore, Jr., of Jekyll Island, Andrea Wilson of Atlanta, Jeannie Henry of Columbia, S.C., Gail Horton of Atlanta, and Michael McLemore of Athens.

 Ms. McLemore graduated from Statesboro High School in 1937 and from Georgia State Teachers College (now Georgia Southern University) in 1941, with a degree in music.  She received dual masters degrees in educational counseling and art from Peabody University (now Vanderbilt) in 1952.

She enlisted in the WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) of the U.S. Navy upon announcement of the formation of the program in October 1941.  She attended the first Boot School of the WAVES in Cedar Falls, Iowa, in 1942, and was a member of the first Officer Candidate School of the WAVES program.  During World War II she was assigned to various naval air stations as a pilot instructor and later as an administrator of pilot training.  Her first active duty assignment was to the naval air station in Atlanta, where she was billeted at the Biltmore Hotel and taught prospective pilots on Link simulators in the Egyptian Ballroom of the Fox Theater.  She thereafter served at naval air station in New Orleans, La., Glenview (Chicago), Ill., and Corpus Christi, Texas, until her discharge from active duty in 1945.  She then served another 12 years in the USNR.

Following World War II she taught at the former Milton High School in Fulton County, and in 1962 taught for one year at North Springs High School.  She then was a guidance counselor at Ridgeview High School from 1963 until her retirement in 19980.  “Miss Mac”, as she was known by many of her students, never met a stranger.  She loved to travel with her sister-in-law, Nancy McLemore of Miami, and enjoyed seeing new places and  meeting new people.

Ms. McLemore was raised in the first Baptist Church of Statesboro and was a member of Wieuca Road Baptist Church in Atlanta.

Private burial will be at Eastview Cemetery in Statesboro.  Memorials may be sent to First Baptist Church of Statesboro, 108 North Main Street, Statesboro, Georgia  30458 or to Wieuca Road Baptist Church, 3626 Peachtree Road NE, Atlanta, Georgia  30326.

Evans Funeral Home, Inc., 1350 Winder Highway, Jefferson, Georgia. 706-367-5467.

Online condolences at www.evansfuneralhomeinc.com