Bettye Thompson McKnight, 85, of North Little Rock, Arkansas passed away on December 18, 2018 at Hospice Home Care Inpatient Center in Little Rock, Arkansas. Bettye was born on December 20, 1932 in Stuttgart, Arkansas to the late Mr. and Mrs. Sam L. Thompson. Bettye grew up in Stuttgart and graduated from Stuttgart High School in 1951.
Bettye’s first job along with her sister Pattie was at Buerkle Drug Store. They were called “soda jerks”. One evening Bettye tried to open a can of marshmallow topping when the can exploded all over the counter, the walls, the ceiling, the lights and on Bettye. It took hours for Mr. Buerkle to get the marshmallow out of Bettye’s hair.
She went to work for the R.B. Causey Company around 1957 and worked there until she was 80 years old. She often said “I only retired because both R.B.Causey and his son Blanchard passed away and the business was sold”. “If the business was still open, I’d still be there”. Bettye was no quitter. Along with working full time for the R.B.Causey Company, she worked every Sunday morning, Sunday night and Tuesday night in the nursery at the First Pentecostal Church in North Little Rock. She retired there this last November.
Despite Bettye’s aversion to blood, she became an avid blood donor in her 60’s. She donated over 128 pints of blood in 5 years.
Bettye was preceded in death by her parents Sam and Essie Thompson. Three brothers, George, Donald and Harold Thompson. Left to treasure her memory is Paula McKnight Watkins (Tommy) of Little Rock, Arkansas, Joseph Patrick McKnight (Donna) of Sherwood, Arkansas, Pamela Mcknight Smith of North Little Rock, Arkansas and Dr. Phillip Jon Mcknight (Meg) of Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. A cherished sister, Pattie Thompson Berry and a brother in law who is more brother than in law, Brooks Berry. Eight grandchildren, Mindy Watkins Sithong, Jon McKnight, Stefanie McKnight, Carter McKnight, Emily Mcknight, Sophie Mcknight, Whitney Smith, Craig Smith and a great granddaughter due in March. Many nieces and nephews that will miss their Aunt Bettye. Six cousins in the Heber Springs and Greenbrier area. And many friends and neighbors
Memorial services will be at 10:00 a.m. Saturday, January 5, 2019 at Griffin Leggett Rest Hills Funeral Home Chapel North Little Rock, Arkansas.
Ashes interment will be at 2:30 pm in Shiloh Cemetery.
We would like to thank the staff of Springhill Baptist Medical
Center and to Hospice Home Care Inpatient Center in Little Rock for the love and care shown to us and our mother, grandmother, aunt and sister. www.griffinleggettresthills.com
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