"Betts" Ruth Wallace Davis

“Betts” Ruth Wallace Davis, was born on February 11, 1931 in Dillon, SC and passed on April 30, 2025 in Columbia, SC.

Loving daughter, sister, wife, mother of 4, grandmother of 6, and great-grandmother of 10. Fiercely loyal to family and friends. Passionate about her God and God’s missions.

She never met a stranger and always made those strangers feel cared for before leaving them. She was very welcoming and generous to all she knew and taught her children to care just as much.

Betts started first grade at five years old. She graduated from Dillon High School at 16 years old in 1947, and graduated from Winthrop College at 20 years old in 1951.

She met her future husband, Norman Davis, when she was 16 years old. They were married in 1952, after his two year stint in the Army during the Korean Conflict. They were married for 42 years.

Betts taught school for 30 years, first in Loris, SC, then at BC Junior High School and retired from Northside Middle School. She taught Home Economics, Math, and Life Science during her career. She was a former teacher of the year. She sponsored many activities for her students, including Future Teachers of America. She loved teaching, and she cared so much for her students.

She was a former member and past President of the Cayce-West Columbia Women’s Club.

In the early 1980’s, she turned her volunteering focus to Missions. She began volunteering at John G Richard’s School for Boys, forming a group to minister to at-risk youth. The boys who attended had an interest in devotions, prayer, special snacks, and “motherly love”.

During this same time she and her friend, Nadia Knotts, started “For God So Loved”, a ministry for the men on Death Row at the Central Correctional Institution in Columbia. This was one of her favorite ministries.

She loved her church, Broadacres Baptist Church, in Cayce, SC. She was a long time Sunday School teacher, and was involved with many mission projects there. She always made sure that the children and youth at the church had money for ice cream when they went to camp. She was always ready to share notecards with a print she had drawn of a Carolina Wren perched on Yellow Jessamine, and testimony of how she was able to draw it, “with God’s help”.

Betts is predeceased by her husband, Norman; her parents, James William Wallace and Donnie Barefoot Wallace; her sister, Thedia Ward, and her brother, James Ray Wallace.

She is survived by her daughter, Michele Davis Fisher (Hank), her son, Norman E. “Ned” Davis, her daughter, Catherine Davis Herndon (Larry), and her daughter, Priscilla “Bannie” Miles. Grandsons: Cole Fisher (Lindsey, children Noah and Sami), Joseph Davis (Jennifer, children Hudson, Scarlet, Kamden, Lauren, and Lillian), Alex Fisher (Ali, son Crew), Lee Davis (Michelle, daughter Bailey), William Herndon (Ciara, daughter Lillian), and Davis Herndon.

She was known to her Grands and Great-Grands as “Bird” because she shared her love of birds and nature with them. She will be sorely missed.

There will be a Celebration of Life, held at 2:00 PM ON Saturday, June 21, 2025  at Broadacres Baptist Church, 2350 Taylor Rd, Cayce, SC 29033. Visitation will be held beforehand at 12:30. Memorials may be made to the church.