MONTGOMERY, BETTY REEVES Betty Reeves Montgomery, age 93, died on January 24, 2012 at her home in Mountain Brook, Alabama. Born in Eufaula, Alabama, on July 15, 1918, Betty was one of four daughters of McNab Malcolm and Sarah Matilda Reeves. She outlived her husband of 59 years, Robert Munger Montgomery of Birmingham, and her six brothers and sisters, Malcolm McNab Reeves, Janie Reeves Blake, William Fontaine Reeves, John Nelson Reeves, Sarah Matilda Reeves, and Virginia Reeves Brown. After losing both parents by the time she was 14 years old, Betty completed high school in Eufaula and joined her sister Virginia in Birmingham to live with their older sister Janie and her husband, Campbell Blake. Betty attended the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, but before completing her degree circumstances required her to work full-time, which she did in Birmingham at The Prudential Insurance Company. On November 30, 1941, Betty married Robert Munger Montgomery. They lived in California for the next five years, first in San Francisco and then in San Diego, where Bob served as a Special Agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation during World War II. After the war they returned to Birmingham, living first at Bob's family home, Arlington House, and later building a home in Mountain Brook, where they raised four children: Mary Fontaine Marcoux (Michel), Virginia M. Martin, Betty M. West, and Robert Munger Montgomery, Jr., all of whom now live in Birmingham. At the age of 72, Betty received a B.A. from Birmingham Southern College, graduating in the same 1990 class with her oldest grandchild, Phillip Hurst. An avid gardener, Betty shared that passion with those around her and volunteered at The Birmingham Botanical Gardens. Betty and Bob added a greenhouse to their bedroom, and grew African violets, herbs, and wonderfully scented flowering plants and fruit trees. She and Bob helped with the initial landscaping of the grounds when Mountain Brook Junior High School, St. Luke's Episcopal Church, and St. Stephen's Episcopal Church were built. Betty was a member of altar and flower guilds at St. Luke's and later at St. Stephen's where she created many beautiful and unique altar arrangements. Her artistic pictures of pressed dried flowers were used for Alabama Symphony fundraising events. Betty was a member of the Junior League of Birmingham, The Ballerina Dance Club, The Caxton Club, The Supper Club, The Crepe Myrtle Garden Club, and The Daughters of the American Revolution. In recent years she especially enjoyed time spent with her Monday Lunch Bunch. Betty took an active interest in business in general, in the real estate industry in particular, and remained active in those pursuits until recently. Betty is survived by ten grandchildren: Phillip Oakley Hurst III (Shelly), Margaret Elizabeth Martin, Catherine Fontaine Martin Schiller (Jim), Valmore Michel Marcoux (Steele), Caroline Elizabeth West, Fontaine Marcoux Haskell (Sam), William Alexander West, Christian Elizabeth Montgomery, Carrie Fagan Montgomery, and Lily Reeves Montgomery. Her four great grandchildren are: James Preston Schiller, Marion Reeves Haskell, Clara Rushton Haskell, and Valmore James Marcoux. After a private family burial at Elmwood Cemetery, a memorial service celebrating Betty's life will be held at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church on Friday, January 27 at 2 PM. Visitation with the family will follow immediately after the service in the Church parish hall. The family extends special thanks to Betty's caregivers: Emilia Posada, Martha Cienfuegos, Maggie Beard, and Grace Wright, for their dedication and help during her last years. The support of Southern Care Hospice is also appreciated. In lieu of flowers, the family requests any donations or memorials be given either to St. Stephen's Episcopal Church or to The Birmingham Botanical Gardens. >