Obituary of Betty Jean Rigby

Betty Jean was born July 28, 1928 to Gertrude Martin Smith and John Clifton Smith in Memphis, Tennessee.  She is preceded in death by her husband, Morgan Nichols Rigby, and sister, Barbara Nell Smith. Visitation will be held Thursday from 10-11 at Natchez Trace Funeral Home in Madison, MS with funeral service following at 11:00 A.M. at Natchez Trace Funeral Home. Graveside will follow in the Natchez Trace Memorial Park Cemetery on Thursday. 

Betty Jean moved to Madison in her early teens where she attended and graduated from Madison-Ridgeland High School.  After her marriage to Morgan in 1951, they moved to Washington, D.C. where Morgan served in the U.S. Army.  During their time there, Betty Jean worked at The Pentagon.  When they returned to live in Madison, she began her longtime career at First Federal Savings & Loan/Unifirst Bank where she served as a Vice-President, retiring in 1990.  She and Morgan resided for many years at the Rigby family home in Madison, known affectionately to the family as Rigby Hill.

She was a lifelong member of Madison United Methodist Church and a member of the Lamplighters Sunday School Class.

She is survived by sisters-in-law, Bertyle Cochran, Madison; Elinor Rummel, Jackson; nieces, Patti Hairston, Jackson; Elizabeth Turner, Madison; Judi Adams, Keystone Heights, FL; Janet laMartina, Bluffton, SC; nephews, Richard Rummel, Brandon; Robert Cochran, Jackson; John Blyholder, Lee’s Summit, MO; great-nieces, Erin Bronson and Dakota Rummel, Jackson; cousin, Linda Smith, Yazoo City; and a host of loving great and great-great nieces and nephews and cousins.

Memorials may be made to the Methodist Children’s Home or Madison United Methodist Church, Madison, MS.