[ad_1]
Longtime Montclair resident Betty Jean Harper passed away suddenly on September 30, 2021. She was 84 years old.
Ms. Harper was born in 1937 in Louisburg, North Carolina, the daughter of the late Carrie B. Perry. She attended Franklin County Training School and Spalding High School, from which she graduated in 1955.
After graduating from high school, she moved to New Jersey and worked for a short time with RCA; shortly thereafter, she began working at Overlook Hospital in Cedar Grove, where she worked for 30 years until her retirement.
She met the love of her life, Lonnie Joe Harper, while working for her uncle, George Perry, at Perry’s Cleaners on Bloomfield Avenue in Montclair. They were married in 1958 at the family home at 85 Lincoln St., Montclair; they remained married for 51 years, until her death in 2009, and she lived in the township for a total of 66 years.
Mrs. Harper walked in her faith, having been baptized at Lettuce Hall Baptist Church in North Carolina; in the 1960s, she joined Saint-Paul-Baptiste Church in Montclair. She was an active member of the St. Paul Missionary Society, where she joined the Bible study and elder worship service at the Arbor Glen Center in Cedar Grove.
She also served with the Two Fish Five Loaves ministry and helped send meals to the elderly, the sick, and the confined. Each year she was of service to the women of the Walter Hoving household. She was also a dedicated member of the Little Lad Food Ministry, where she served meals to her church family.
Mrs. Harper had a lively smile, a warm spirit and a zest for life. His love was above all for the family.
She is survived by her sons, Dwayne P. Harper and Glen S. Harper (Kelly), both of Montclair; his daughter, Janise Collins of North Carolina; two sisters, Doris Earp of East Orange and Judy Stanley of Sims, North Carolina; a sister-in-law, Lillian Harper of California; niece Lesly Robyn Harper-Devereaux (Les); Candace Harper; “Trixie”; friends Elma, Linda, Tammy; eight grandchildren; two great-grandchildren and a host of other nieces and nephews.
Besides her mother Carrie and her husband, Lonnie, she was predeceased by three brothers, Bobby, Billy and Garland Earp, and a sister, Thelma Earp Washington.
Visitations will be held from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Friday, October 8 at St. Paul’s Baptist Church, 119 Elm Street, with service to follow at 11 a.m.
Arrangements were made by Martin’s Home for Service.
[ad_2]
Source link