Bettie Marable Dowda Sawyer

With her family gathered at her bedside, BETTIE MARABLE DOWDA SAWYER went home to be with her Lord and Savior on December 28, 2002. Born in Wake Forest on June 4, 1930 to Grady Siler and Elizabeth Lake Patterson, she was educated at Wake Forest College where she met and married Harry Clinton Dowda, who preceded her in death. Known to many of her friends as Marable, she was active in the Wake Forest Baptist Church and in the community life of Wake Forest, serving for many years as an officer and board member of the Wake Forest College Birthplace Society and the Wake Forest University Alumni Council. She is survived by her beloved husband of the last four years, John S. Sawyer, daughter Christie Dowda and her husband, Andy Ellis, a son Harry Clinton Dowda Jr., and his wife Janet; grandchildren, Barney Goldberg and his wife Rona, Clinton Barclay Dowda and his wife Jennifer, Feleisa Dowda and Drake Dowda; two great-grandchildren; sisters Sarah Barge and Peggy Rogers and a brother Grady S. Patterson Jr. A Memorial Service will be held at 11:00 A.M., December 31, 2002 at Wake Forest Baptist Church after which the family will receive friends at 316 North Main St. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Wake Forest College Birthplace Society, P.O. Box 494, Wake Forest, NC., 27588. A Service of Bright Funeral Home & Cremation. (919-556-5811).