Betty J. Sluder

Asheville – Betty Jane Watkins Sluder, 92, of Asheville, passed away peacefully on 30 October 2019. A beloved lifelong resident of Madison & Buncombe Counties, Betty was a member of Mt. Carmel Baptist Church. She graduated from Red Oak High School (1944) and Blanton Business College (1947). She worked for both the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Western Union before becoming a fulltime homemaker, loving Mother, Grandmother and Great-Grandmother. Betty is the daughter of the late Alfonso F. and Zennie Lee Fisher Watkins. She is preceded in death by her loving husband Gay Sluder and by brothers Paige and Robert Watkins, as well as six (6) brothers-in-law and five (5) sisters-in-law. Betty is survived by her son, Philip (Ginger) Sluder of Rock Hill, SC; daughter, Linda Gail (George) Brooks of Albuquerque, NM; grandchildren: Meghan Parrado (Michael) of Charleston, SC and Alexandria Williams (Heath) of Rock Hill, SC; great grandchildren Harper & Claire Parrado and Reagan Williams; sisters: Virginia Freeman, and Joyce Edwards (Anthony); sisters-in-law: Helen Watkins and Shirley Sluder; brothers-in-law James Sluder (Euretha), Harry Black; and several nieces and nephews. Extended family Thomas, Patricia, Thomas (Deceased) and Sarah Brooks of Austin, TX; Cary, Erin, Caleb and Lillian Brooks of Albuquerque, NM and George Brooks III of Los Angeles, CA. Also, her very special and dear friends that she made in Tega Cay: Diana Dowling, Tracey Crawford, Derris Summerlin, Tammara Sweeney, Belinda Spence, Dolores Lowes, and Linda DeYoung. Betty in her own unique way was a strong, determined woman and we will miss her every day. Special thanks to the wonderful caregivers at Wellmore at Tega Cay, SC especially Tracey Crawford as well as Kelli Gagne for all of her support to Betty and the family. These special people at Wellmore loved Betty like she was their mother or grandmother and we will never forget all their compassion, kindness and special care. Funeral services will be held at 2 PM Saturday, November 2, 2019 in the chapel of Anders-Rice Funeral Home, with Tim Warren officiating. Burial will follow at Ashelawn Gardens of Memory. The family will receive friends from 1 to 1:45 PM Saturday at the Anders-Rice Funeral Home. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Mt. Carmel Baptist Church, 201 Mt. Carmel Road, Asheville, NC 28806 or Hospice & Palliative Care Charlotte Region, P.O. Box 470408, Charlotte, NC 28247; donatehospice.org.