Betty Joyce Allen

The longest goodbye is never really long enough. Our hearts are heavy as our precious Betty Joyce Allen has passed over into her heavenly life. She was a consummate lady, wife, and mother, simply the best!

Betty Joyce Busby Allen, age 93, of Ball Ground, Georgia, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, April 29, 2025. She was born on Saturday, December 12, 1931, in Bankston, Alabama to Gaston J. Busby and Jeanette H. Busby and grew up in North Birmingham, Alabama. Her father, part of a large first-generation Irish family, was from Dublin, Ireland. He and all of her uncles worked for Southern Railroad their whole lives. Her mother, being of Irish/Dutch descent, was also from a large farming family in Alabama. Betty is also preceded in death by her older brother Henry J. Busby and her older sister June Louise Busby Taylor. Even with the larger age gaps between them, they were close friends all of their lives. Her sister June was her best friend.

Betty attended Auburn University, owned a restaurant in San Bernardino, California, and was a popular hairdresser in Buckhead in Atlanta, GA in the 1960s. Atlanta is where she met and married her husband of 58 years, Robert D. Allen. They were quite the dancers in their day! In Atlanta, they adopted their daughter, June Allen Roberts, and after transferring to Detroit, MI with General Motors, she gave birth to two sons, Robert Garland Allen and Jason Taylor Allen. She would always say that she had three children in three years. Snow and cold weather were not her thing, so thankfully General Motors promoted and transferred the family back to Atlanta.

Betty was well known in the Cobb County School system over the years, both volunteering and working at Sprayberry High School. She wanted to be home when her children got home every day, and dinner was on the table at 4:30 pm sharp. She was an expert ironer of cotton clothes and an avid Atlanta Braves fan. She was also a great cook, cross-stitcher, embroiderer, tole painter, and overall craft artist, as well as a full-time clean freak. She ran a tight ship. She was quite the music critic as well. She endured a lot of music with her children, to say the least. She had intense likes and dislikes in that area. She loved a new car, it is lucky that Dad worked for General Motors, so we had a new one about every 6 months. We knew when she washed it, it was time for a new one, it was amazing how she would sell the old one within a few hours and have a new one that evening. We would joke that she needed her own used car lot. She got things done, if she said something, it was as good as done. She was always working hard and always so busy.

No one loved a new top or outfit more than Betty. She loved shopping as she was no stranger to Saks 5th Avenue or "Willies" as she used to refer to Goodwill. She loved clothes and shoes and never had pierced ears. Only clip-on earrings and necklaces for her accessories. No bracelets and no right-hand rings. She treasured her wedding rings. She was always the cutest Mother with the prettiest makeup and hair.

She truly appreciated, adored, and loved her husband, children, and granddaughter Stella. She loved her husband best; he was her absolute best friend and love of her life.

She celebrated her 60th birthday the same day her daughter graduated from college. She absolutely adored her hilariously funny son Robert, who died of heart failure at the young age of 37. They shared so many laughs as they had the same spicy sense of humor. She had her two best Mother's Day when her youngest son Jason was born and years later when he graduated from college. She had her best 73rd Christmas the year her granddaughter was born. She had so many good friends of all ages over the years that will remember her spunky, funny friendship. She believed in different strokes for different folks, equality in the world, embracing the uniqueness of others and everyone's need to have love and be loved. She was the best and most loyal friend you could ever have. She also fiercely loved animals and her most favorite dog Sam and cats Nigel, Dude and PK have surely joined her.

She was a tenacious and tough lady; she beat ovarian, lung, and brain cancer over the past 30 years. She also had a very aggressive back surgery 25 years ago that would have stopped anyone in their tracks. She always refused the pain medication because she said, "if I took all that stuff, I would be out of it and missing life." The past 10 years of her life she rallied back from a heart attack and battled dementia. The person that we knew growing up changed many, many times. In the end, she was the sweetest person. We were so fortunate to have her for so long; she knew we really loved her, and she told us every day just how much she loved us. We are all so grateful that Betty's beautiful soul has joined with everyone that has been waiting for her heaven, and she is finally at peace.

A graveside service will be held on Saturday, May 3, 2025, at Ebenezer Methodist Church Cemetery at 11:00 am. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to Ebenezer Methodist Church Cemetery. Please wear comfortable shoes and bring your umbrella as we are outside in an uncovered area.