ANN ELIZABETH HOUSTON
It is with great sadness that the family of Ann Elizabeth “Betsy” Houston announces her passing on Jan. 10, 2021 after a long battle with cancer. She was 64.
She is survived by her fiancé Terry Lovell of Rocky Mount, Va., her two sisters, Dr. Mary Bennett Houston Lockamy (Rick), of Cedar Grove, N.C., and Sarah “Sally” Houston Faidley (David), of Lynchburg, VA., two nephews, Patrick and Ryan Sullivan of Lynchburg, VA., niece Sarah Victoria Lockamy of Cedar Grove, N.C., two loving Aunts, Evelyn Houston, formerly of Columbus, Ohio, and Kathleen Davis “Kash” Long, of Charlotte, N.C., along with multiple loving cousins.
It is by her request that no service will be held, but a gathering is planned for the spring to honor her memory to family, and to so many neighbors, co-workers, and life-long friends.
Betsy was born in Goldsboro, N.C. to Dr. Ben and Bet Houston. During her Goldsboro years, she developed her love of animals, especially horses, the beach, and anything botanical. Once graduating from Goldsboro High School in 1974, she attended UNC-Chapel Hill in Psychology and Zoology, graduating with a BS in Zoology. Betsy worked many years in the neurological research community of UNC. She moved to Gainesville, Fla. to work in the equine reproductive physiology with the University of Florida Veterinary School. Betsy returned to North Carolina, worked with the North Carolina State University Veterinary School as well, then transferred to Chapel Hill for work in the UNC Physiology Department. In 1999, she met and fell in love with Terry Lovell, a medical helicopter pilot. One of her treasured events, among many, was their cross-country helicopter flight, during which they explored the 1945 crash site of the US Military aircraft carrying Uncle Wilfert “Bill” Davis, pilot in WWII, in Goodland, Kansas. She eventually settled in Hillsborough, N.C. in 2013 and greatly enjoyed the small-town atmosphere.
Her passion in life has been nurturing a tremendous variety of plants, both indoors and in her landscaped yards, training and caring for her precious canines over the decades, Maggie, Mya and Kayla, and earnestly preserving the purity of the environment. She adored being outdoors in the dirt, digging, rearranging and nurturing.
Memorial donations may be made to her special interests: radio stations WUNC, WVTF, WHUP, the local or national SPCA, or the North Carolina Nature Conservancy.
Betsy Houston 