Betty Mavity Nesmith

Betty Alsup Mavity NeSmith, also affectionately known as “Mimi” by her children and grandchildren, peacefully passed away on September 30, 2023, just shy of her 92nd birthday.

Betty was a true partner with her husband William “Bill” Mavity, a veteran of the depression, WII, the Korean War, and a POW in Stalag-17. They complemented one another in a resilient marriage, and as loving parents, and successful businesspeople. In her elegant way, Betty was a trailblazer as a woman business and community leader.

Although from Laverne, Tennessee, outside of Nashville, Betty and Bill moved to Dalton, Georgia in 1962 after a decade in Hartford, Connecticut. Betty was then a stay-at-home mother and supported Bill when he was transferred to a place they had never seen. Two years later, they started Mavity Transport and Storage, and Betty seamlessly became a full-time manager, taking younger son, Howard, with her. Said son is grateful for seeing his parents model work ethic and how to treat employees.

Later they bought the then-bankrupt Industrial Wire Rope and Supply Company in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Betty easily took over management of the Georgia businesses, which at one time included trucking companies in Dalton and Calhoun, warehouses, and railcar loading.

After her husband Bill passed away unexpectedly in 1986, Betty assumed the role of president of both companies, which she led for many more years. Competing businesses quickly learned that this elegant woman was not a vulnerable widow who could be intimidated. God bless the Mavity Transport employees who stayed each night until she left the office and walked her to her car.

Betty was a Dalton-Whitfield Chamber of Commerce Board member, with three terms as the Director of Membership. She was a three-term Board member of the Associated Wire Rope Fabricators and served as the Site Selection Chair. She held Board positions at Amelia Island Condo Associations, and leadership roles at the Chattanooga Yacht Club. Betty also served in leadership roles for United Way of Dalton and Leadership Dalton and served as the president of the League of Women Voters, which she gleefully called the “rabblerousers.” She served on the City Zoning Board.

Betty and her family were known for gracious hospitality to their employees, family, and friends. Dalton High and Vanderbilt students, High School Bible Study, and customers spent time on the Early Times at the Chattanooga Yacht Club. She always had a supply of homemade seven-layer cookies to serve to guests that happened by.

Betty’s mother, Blanche Alsup, was a High School principal, and Betty was a high school Valedictorian. However, she dropped out of college when the dashing Bill Mavity married her.  A highly competitive person, it irked her that her oldest son Steve, had graduated UGA with honors, and her younger son, Howard, would soon graduate from Vanderbilt, and yet, she had not graduated from college. She approached the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, and asked, “What should I major in so as to graduate before my younger son?” Betty graduated one week before Howard.

Betty loved to travel and visited almost every continent, and all 50 states. She took up running, golf, and bridge. She enthusiastically cheered for the UGA Bulldogs when she married her second husband, Cecil NeSmith, who also introduced her to the Masters. She was a merciless Scrabble shark, and never shared her famous coconut cake recipe.

Betty was a faithful grandmother to her five grandchildren. She carried her calendar in her pocketbook, reserving dates a year in advance for piano recitals, plays, musical performances, awards days, graduations, baptisms, Grandparent Days, and Eagle Scout ceremonies. She was present on the Cross-Country fields, and school, and church stages, cheering for her grands, saving event programs and copies of the numerous awards.

Betty was a gifted pianist and adored the musical talents of granddaughters Mosiah, Hananel, and Megan. She was proud that Mosisah and Megan became educators like her mother. She loved the brilliance, creativity, and good heart of son, Steve, and was proud of lawyer son Howard and grandson William Howard, also an attorney. Betty treated Karla as her daughter, and embraced Karla’s Atlanta’s Cookie Exchanges, festive holiday celebrations, and family and friend gatherings for the past 40 years.

Betty is survived by her younger brother, John Alsup and his wife, Teresa; older son, Steve and his wife, Donna, and their children Mosisah, Ben, Hananel (Trey Jackson) and great-grandchildren Mercy and Dunwody Jackson. Younger son Howard and his wife Karla, and their children Megan Alsup and William Howard Mavity, II. Her husband Bill Mavity predeceased her in 1986, and her second husband, Howard Cecil Nesmith, in 2017. Karla, an RN, provided care and companionship to Mimi, while in Atlanta medical facilities for almost a decade. We are grateful for the physicians, nurses, and caregivers at Emory, Bud Terrace, Belmont Village, Orchard at Brookhaven, and Agape Hospice who joined us on this journey. Karla held her hand as she went to be with the Lord.

The visitation will be held on Saturday, October 7, 2023, from 4:00-5:30 pm at Love Funeral Home (1402 N. Thornton Avenue, Dalton, GA 30720). There will be a memorial service on Sunday, October 8, 2023, starting at 3:00 PM at Grace Presbyterian Church (2107 Threadmill Road, Dalton, GA 30720).

The service will be officiated by granddaughter Hananel’ s husband Trey, a PCA minister, and grandchildren Ben and William are journeying from California.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation  to Reach for Excellence,  located at  Marist School 3790 Ashford Dunwoody Road, NE, Atlanta, GA, 30319. Donations can also be made online at Reach for Excellence. Betty felt strongly about this program for exceptional children from underfunded public schools in the metro Atlanta area, at which Megan taught for many Summers.