Betty Bessent Dearing

Betty Bessent Dearing Betty Bessent Dearing of Tallahassee died Friday, January 30, 2015, at her home following a lengthy illness. She was born October 25, 1934, and raised one of ten children of Robert and Jimmie Bessent in Jacksonville, graduating from Lee High School. She lived for a number of years in Coral Gables before moving to Tallahassee in 1970. She attended Tallahassee Community College and Florida State University, where she was an honors student in English. She is survived by Daniel S. Dearing, her husband of 59 years, and six children, Mark Dearing (Carol), Sears Dearing, Chris Dearing (Beckie), Leslie Dearing Fleming (Jim), Andrew Dearing, Mallory Dearing McCall (Mike), fifteen grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. Betty was known for her generosity and sense of fair play. Until her illness, she was active in community tennis programs, playing on teams in several leagues, and on numerous occasions hosting players in the annual Challenger tournament. She was an active member of St. Johns Episcopal Church, where she taught Sunday school and participated in needlework covering benches for the pews and the alter rail. In addition, Betty enjoyed ‘getting dirt under her nails’ gardening in the patio she designed and had built next to her home on Lake Jackson. She was an excellent cook, and an expert seamstress, making clothes for her children as they were growing up, her daughters wedding dresses, and rarely wearing a dress she didn’t sew herself. Betty participated in Meals On Wheels programs in Coral Gables and Tallahassee, and while she could, played in a weekly contract bridge group at the Senior Center. She enjoyed travel to her family home in the North Carolina mountains, and being with her brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews at the annual Bessent family Thanksgiving reunion. She looked forward to visits from and to her grandchildren in several parts of the country from Seaside, Florida, to Birmingham, Alabama, to Providence, Rhode Island. Betty was remarkably athletic, and over the years in addition to daily tennis, she liked skiing, biking, and long walks in the woods. A funeral service is planned for 3:00 P.M. on Friday, February 6th at St. Johns Episcopal Church in Tallahassee. Following the service, a reception will be held in Alfriend Hall. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her memory to St. Johns Church, Big Bend Hospice, or North Florida Alzheimer’s Association (www.alz.org/cnfl). Susie Mozolic of Bevis Funeral Home is assisting the family with their arrangements. (www.bevisfh.com 850-385-2193)

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Betty Bessent Dearing

October 25, 1934 - January 30, 2015