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Elizabeth Ruth “Betsy” Underwood Gardiner, 89, Tuscumbia, passed away on Tuesday, July 26, 2022. Visitation will be Saturday, July 30, from 12:00 – 2:00 p.m. at First United Methodist Church, Tuscumbia. The funeral service will immediately follow at the church with Rev. Dr. Rick Owen and Rev. Dr. Rudy Guess officiating. Interment will be in Oakwood Cemetery, Tuscumbia. In 1943 Betsy became a member of First United Methodist Church, Tuscumbia, where she was a member of the Ethel Gary Sunday School Class. She spent her life as a teacher, retiring at the age of eighty. She served on the Cramer Center Board of Directors and Executive Committee, the Tuscumbia Board of Education, and as Chair of both the English Department and the Fine Arts Department at Northwest Shoals Community College. Betsy was a member of the Cosmopolitan Study Club, Tuscumbia Retail and Development, and Helen Keller Literary Society. She was preceded in death by her husband, William. F. Gardiner, Sr.; son, William. F. Gardiner, Jr.; infant daughter, Elizabeth Jane Gardiner; parents, William. H. and Ida Ruth Underwood; sister, Virginia Smith; and brother, William. H. Underwood, Jr. Betsy is survived by her children, Pat Gardiner Owen (Rick), Harry Gardiner, Jimmy Gardiner (Nan), and Ginger Gardiner; grandchildren, Michael Owen (Jess), Sarah Owen Butler (Ryan), J. Gardiner (Martina), Ryan Leigh Gardiner (fiancé, Trenton Roden), and Jake Gardiner; and great-grandchildren, Andrew and Charlotte Owen and James and Henry Butler. Pallbearers will be John Underwood, Lance Underwood, Ted Smith, Austin Underwood, Tim Balentine, Dr. Mark McIlwain, Tom Heflin, and Lawrence Kimbrough, Jr. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Saddle Up for St. Jude Trail Ride, 121 East 6th Street, Tuscumbia, AL 35674; or Tuscumbia Retail and Development, 106 N Dickson St, Tuscumbia, AL, 35674. The family would like to thank her caregivers, Rhonda Wilson and Jacqueline Carter. They would also like to thank her doctors, Dr. Brad McAnalley and Dr. Jerry Williams.

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Elizabeth Betsy "BetBet" Underwood Gardiner

May 9, 1933 - July 26, 2022