Betty Ann Whaley Baldree, 73, a resident of Cleveland, went home to be with her Heavenly Father, peacefully Friday, Sept. 17, 2010.
She has been reunited with her husband, the late Dr. J. Martin Baldree; her parents, Dorsey Whaley and Elsie Lesley Whaley; and two brothers: Burton Whaley and Paul Whaley.
She was a wonderful and loving wife, mother, grandmother and friend who will be missed by all who knew her and loved her.
She moved to Cleveland with her husband in 1960 from Seaford, Del. Martin had accepted a position to work in the Church of God Youth and Christian Education Department. He began teaching at Lee University the following year and she began her career at Lee in 1963.
She retired in 2009 after spending 46 years affectionately known as the “voice of Lee University.”
To quote her in an article from the Cleveland Daily Banner on Aug. 14, 2009, about her service at Lee, “I enjoy people, and I guess when I first started it was to be a help to Martin with the budget, but as time went on it became like an addiction. I just love the operations and the people and the whole scenario.” In the same article, Lee University President Paul Conn said she is “an institution within an institution. For almost half a century, she is one of the wonderful things about Lee that has not changed. Her gracious style, her dignity, the superb quality of her work – we will all miss that as we will miss her.”
Her involvement and love for Lee was only part of her life. She had a great love for her church, Westmore Church of God. There she was involved in the church choir, the Enetha Circle, a sharing and outreach group, and she was a member of the Red Hat Society.
She is survived by one daughter, Tanya Mazzolini and her husband, Dr. Michael Mazzolini, of Cleveland; one son, Jon Baldree and his wife, Elizabeth, of Easley, S.C.; four grandchildren: Katherine Longwith, Joseph Baldree, Benjamin Baldree and Kathryn Baldree; her twin brother, Bobby Whaley of Seaford, Del.; her brothers: James Whaley of Seaford, Del., Emory Whaley of Newark, Del.. and youngest brothr, Billy Whaley, of Seaford; sister, Eunice Townsend of Seaford; and several nieces and nephews.
A Remembrance of Life service will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2010, at Westmore Church of God with Pastor Kelvin Page officiating. Interment will follow in Sunset Memorial Gardens with a dove release ceremony to conclude the service.
The family will receive friends on Tuesday, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at Westmore Church of God.
The family requests memorial donations be made to the Lee University’s Dr. J. Martin Baldree Scholarship Fund.
Jim Rush Funeral Homes, North Ocoee Chapel, is in charge of the arrangements. Please view and sign the memorial book at http://www.jimrushfuneralhomes.com.
