Bettie G. Scales, 88, of Blacksburg, VA, died December 18,2020. Public viewings will be held from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Tuesday, December 29, 2020 at Radford Church of God in Christ and from 10:00 a.m. to 12 noon, Wednesday, December 30, 2020 at Perry- Spencer Funeral Home, Eden, NC. The family will have a private service. Wednesday, December 30, 2020 at 1:00 p.m. LIVESTREAM WILL BE AVAILABLE.

Affectionately known as Mother or “Mamma Scales,” Mrs. Bettie Scales was born January 26, 1932 in Rockingham County, North Carolina, to the late Henry Clarence and Katie Redd Thompson. Many of you have met our mother; yet, we would like to share with you aspects of her life that you may not know along with words of wisdom she shared with us. She joined Antioch Baptist Church in Ridgeway, VA and was under the guidance of the late Reverend H. J. Mack early in her Christian journey. She loved her church family. When she moved to Blacksburg to live with her children, she enjoyed worshiping with Bishop Ronald A. Watson and her Radford Church of God in Christ family. Those of you who know our Mom know that she was passionate about serving the Lord. She would remind us about forgiveness and say that sometimes you have to be the stronger person and you know that God has healed you when you can walk by the person who caused your pain and you feel nothing but love for them. She was an expert gardener and is known for planting vegetable gardens and growing beautiful flowers. This is a tradition that she passed on to us. She worked the majority of her career at the Burlington Industries plant in North Carolina. She was very skilled at landscaping and home improvement. When asked if times were different what would be her dream profession, she always replied, “to own my own construction company.” Bettie had the ‘high intelligence gene’ evidenced on occasion by correcting the homework of her son, Dr. Wayne Scales who is an Ivy League trained rocket scientist. Bettie and her sister Estella demonstrated model-like style as can be seen from many glamourous photos from their twenties. Our Mom loved her immediate and extended family. She was married to the late William Thomas Scales in 1959 and had one sibling, the late Emma Estella Thompson. She loved her son Dr. Wayne Scales, his wife Dr. Glenda Scales and her granddaughter Miss Melody Scales was her pride and joy. She loved to travel with them to sunny Florida and most recently she went with them to New Orleans to see Melody off to Xavier University as a pre-med student. Granny deeply loved Melody and gave her a unique nickname “feetcake.” She enjoyed Wayne preparing and bringing her breakfast every morning and Glenda asking her every Sunday for her weekly dinner menu. When asked how she felt about living with us she always replied I am just fine because I am ‘Livin’ the life’. She leaves to cherish her memory nieces Kimberly Thompson, Sherrie “Kay” Hairston (Richard), Nicole Burgess Dillard (Jesse “Tee”), Misty Wilson and nephews Marcus Hairston, Chris Hairston and Terrance Lawrence.

Our mom was very close to Glenda’s family and consider her parents Eugene and Josephine Rose as her sister and brother and Glenda’s siblings Eugene Rose Jr. (Sonya), Gary Rose (Beverly), Sylvia N’Golet and Karen Tanner and their children as part of her family.