Mrs. Betty Jean Lee Pipes went to meet her Heavenly Father on December 16, 2020, at the age of 85.

She was born on November 15, 1935, to Hosey and Mildred Lee.  She spent most of her childhood in Tremont Bottom on the Lincoln/Ouachita Parish line.  She attended Choudrant High School where she met the love of her life, James Harrell Pipes.  On November 19, 1953, they left home one morning as if going to school but eloped instead.  That afternoon they both went back to their respective family homes but it wasn’t long before word spread and they were able to spend the next 57 years together.

Betty established, and was very active in the Ruston Fire Department Women’s Auxiliary. She enjoyed time with the Ruston Masonic Lodge #106, and the Barak Shrine Temple in Monroe, where her husband was a Shriner.  She treasured being a homemaker and especially loved time spent in her yard and tending to her flower garden.  Betty worked at several businesses in Ruston, but stopped working when her husband retired, which allowed them to make many happy memories traveling with friends.

Betty was a member of Emmanuel Baptist Church where she helped out wherever needed.  She could be found working in the kitchen, preparing food for shut-ins or funerals, visiting the elderly, and helping out at Christian Community Action.  She dearly loved her Sunday school class members and her friends at Emmanuel.

She is preceded in death by her parents, Hosey and Mildred Lee, her husband Harrell, her brother Hosey Lee, Jr., and her son-in-law, Scott Williams.

Left to cherish her memory are her four children:  Evelyn Marie Williams Gilbert (Tim); James “Jim” Harrell Pipes, Jr. (Debbie); William “Bill” Tolbert Pipes (Claire); Brenda Lee Speights (Gary),  Her eight grandchildren:  Zack Bennett, Lane Boyd (Brandi), Mollie McManus (Quincy), Amber Walker (Joshua), James Harrell “Trey” Pipes, III (Lauren), Will Pipes, Mark Pipes and Rachel Pipes; her Nine great-grandchildren, sisters-in-laws Hilda Lee and Mary Ellen Pipes, and a host of nieces and nephews, along with her extended family in Kansas, and many wonderful friends.

Private graveside services will be held Friday, December 18, 2020 at 2:00 P.M. at Douglas Cemetery in Choudrant, Louisiana.

The family requests any memorials be made to Emmanuel Baptist Church Building Fund or St. Jude Children’s Hospital.

Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.kilpatrickfuneralhomes.com.