Betty Leverette Gardner

Betty Leverette Gardner, 93, of Bainbridge, passed away Saturday, January 18, 2025.

The funeral service will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, January 21, 2025, at Bryant Funeral Home Chapel with her grandchildren officiating. Interment will follow at Cool Springs Cemetery with her nephews and grandchildren serving as active pallbearers.

The family will receive friends prior to the service, from 10:00-10:45 a.m. Online visitors may sign the guest register at www.bryantfuneralga.com. Memorial donations may be made to Seminole Manor Nursing Home Activity Fund, 100 Florence Avenue, Donalsonville, GA 39845.

Betty Jean Leverette was born September 23, 1931, in Climax, GA, the daughter of Jack & Berta Sellars Leverette. She was a graduate of Climax High School. Betty married Vern Gardner in 1949, and they made their home in Faceville continuing the tradition of farming families. Besides the most important roles of wife and mother, Betty also worked at Florida State Hospital and Decatur County Schools. (Passengers on her school bus were always in for a treat.) She was a member of Southwest Baptist Church.

Betty never shied away from work as evidenced by her yard and garden. She spent hours canning fruits & vegetables that ultimately made it right back to her table. She served fried chicken every Sunday but was also known for her walnut cookies and icebox fruit cakes.

Trying her hand at new things and sometimes doing what you had to do to make it, Betty became quite a seamstress and also channeled her creativity through ceramics. The beach was a place she felt most relaxed and enjoyed every minute of those memories with the grandchildren. Though she would never admit it, because she loved them all, the grandsons were a little extra special.

Survivors include her son, Windell Gardner (Brenda) of Cordele; her grandchildren, Ashley & Kerri, Gina & Brandon, Dia & Ric, and Drew & Ashley; her great-grandchildren, Abbey, Jackson, Reece, Brenna, Maddie, Maelee, Mary Richard, Margo, Millie Drew, and Winn; her brother, Billy Leverette of Bradenton, FL; several nieces & nephews; and a host of extended family. In addition to her parents, Betty was preceded in death by her husband of 52 years, Vern Sam Gardner, and her son, Sammy Gardner.