Betty Eagles

TARBORO - Betty Strickland Eagles, 85, died Sunday, March 7, 2010. Funeral, Wednesday, 11 AM, Calvary Episcopal Church, Tarboro. Interment, Maplewood Cemetery (Old Section), 2 PM. She had relocated to the Albemarle in Tarboro in 1998 to enjoy her retirement years. A Wilson native, she was born February 20, 1925, to Dr. Ernest Lee and Mary Eliza Thigpen Strickland. She was also preceded in death by her sister, Jean Hackney, and a granddaughter, Carolina Elizabeth Eagles. She was Tobacco Princess in Wilson and a Princess in the Queen's Court in the National Tobacco Festival in South Boston, VA. She attended Woman's College in Greensboro and graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1946 and was a member of the Pi Beta Phi sorority. On June 30, 1948, she married Frederick Moye Eagles at First Baptist Church. They were married for 37 years until his death in 1986. Mrs. Eagles was a member of St Timothy's Episcopal Church and the Altar Guild. She was an avid gardener and a member of the Garden Club. She served the community as a board member for both the City of Wilson Zoning and Barton-Wilson Symphony. In moving to Tarboro, she became a member of Calvary Episcopal Church and served on the Albemarle residents' council as secretary. Surviving are daughters, Marilee Reed (Randy) of Wilson, Catherine "Cappa" Woodward (Robert) of Atlanta, GA; son, Fred Eagles (Sonja) of Hampstead. She was known as "Gran" by her grandchildren: Charles F. Woodward (Liz), Benjamin E. Woodward, Julia C. Spaht (Carlos), Hannah C. Reed and Dylan F. Reed, great-grandson, Robert J. Woodward; brother-in-law, Ernest Deans Hackney of Wilson; nieces and nephews: Turner. B. Bunn, III, Joseph E. Bunn, Frederick M. Bunn, Elizabeth E. Fouros, J. Colin Eagles, III, Lee H. Edwards, Jean H. Haas, Mary Hunter Keeler, E. Deans Hackney, Jr, and Betty H. Biddle. The family will be at Wilson Memorial Service, Tuesday, 6:30 - 8 PM. Memorials are suggested to Barton College, PO Box 5000, Wilson, NC 27893, Fred Eagles Scholarship at Wilson Community College, PO Box 4305, Wilson, NC 27893, or to Calvary Episcopal Church, PO Box 1245, Tarboro, NC 27886.