Elizabeth Louise Brian

1929 - 2021

Elizabeth Louise Graham Brian 'Betty' of Goodlettsville, Tennessee, was born in Houston, Texas, on April 18th, 1929, to the late Gerald Graham and Edith Wilma Cagle Graham. Betty went home to be with the Lord in the early morning on Wednesday, August 11th, 2021, at the age of 92. She was preceded in death by her beloved husband of fifty years, A. Morgan Brian, Jr., and by a younger sister, Frances Graham McMaster. Betty also is survived by another sister, Geraldine Graham England of Kerrville, Texas; a son, Robert M. Brian (Marion) of Vidalia, Georgia; a daughter, Ellen Graham Brian Walley (David), of Goodlettsville, Tennessee; and by six grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. Moving to Louisiana with her family as a young child, Betty grew up in Port Sulphur in Plaquemines Parish. After briefly returning to Texas, where she earned a degree in home economics and nutrition at the University of Houston in 1951, she married her high school sweetheart and lived most of her life in New Orleans before moving to Tennessee in 2004 to live with her daughter and son-in-law. Though she never worked in the employment sector, she gave generously of her gifts, her time, and her grace to her family, to ministry at First Baptist Church New Orleans (where she was an active member from 1956-2004), and to the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, where she volunteered as a decorator and events coordinator in adorning the campus for the occasions and seasons of the academic calendar. Though not on the paid staff, 'Miss Betty' had her own workshop on campus for many years, where she gave expression through her work to her love of the Lord in whose presence she now abides. Interment will be in the Brian family tomb at Lakelawn-Metairie Cemetery in New Orleans at a private family graveside service conducted by Betty's grandson, Alex Paul Brian, pastor of the Vieux Carré Baptist Church. In lieu of flowers, relatives and friends wishing to remember Betty are invited to make donations to the Providence Fund at the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, a fund she and several others in the seminary's women's auxiliary helped found decades ago. Gifts can be made by contacting the seminary's Development Department at 800-662-8701, by email at development@nobts.edu, or by mail at 3939 Gentilly Boulevard, New Orleans, LA 70126.