Betty DeBerry

1933 - 2025

Betty Ann Kitchens DeBerry, 92, of Tupelo, Mississippi passed peacefully in her sleep October 11, 2025 at Laney Green House, Traceway Manor. Born June 21, 1933 in Louisville, Mississippi to Eva and Earl Kitchens, Betty played clarinet in the school band, winning two scholarships to Egyptian Music Camp. She and Kermit Wayne "Mike" DeBerry, an employee at the GM&O Railroad, were married in 1950.



Moving to Tupelo in 1959, Betty taught Sunday School and sang in the choir at St. Mark Methodist Church and volunteered at Lawhon School as President of the Band Parents Association, member of the PTA, Cub Scout Mother for Troop 9, and school crossing guard. She loved reading and attending film festivals.

When the City of Tupelo added the first women to the Police Department, Betty was selected for the job. She graduated from the Mississippi Police Academy with Sharpshooter status, completed classes at Hinds Junior College, and received certification from the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics. She was a patrolman, advanced to warrant officer, and became Deputy Sheriff of Lee County.

Betty and Mike retired to Henderson, Tennessee; she moved back to Tupelo after his passing.

Betty was a member of the Mount Vernon Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband of 63 years, Mike DeBerry, a brother, Buck Kitchens of Jackson, TN, and a sister, Frances Pearson of Oxford, MS.

She is survived by her children Michael (Linda), Billy (Barbara), and Katy (Rob); grandchildren Rob (Kim), Mike, Heather (Josh), Sarah (Jake), Matthew (Ashley), and Katie (Andrew); and great-grandsons George, Louis, Rhys, and Edmund.



A Memorial Service will be held at Shackelford Funeral Home in Henderson, Tennessee. Burial will follow at Montezuma Methodist Church.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.