Sheppard, Betty Hoke

On October 21, 2023, Walmart lost its most loyal customer, Betty Hoke Sheppard, the iconic “Smiley Face” and greeter extraordinaire. Not to be confused with the yellow smiley face of price rollbacks -though she was a glowing, round, 4’10” animated display of excellence. Eye level with the shopping cart she offered compliments and encouragement to the most unexpecting individual in every aisle of the store.

“The People of Walmart,”-the poor, the rich, the good, the bad, and the toothless- all were greeted with “Hey there beautiful” and met with the warmest expression of a listening ear and a kind word. She should have been on Walmart’s payroll because she excelled at engaging every employee in her plight of getting boxes of Cheerios, mandarin orange fruit cups, and cartons of Yoo-hoo from the third shelf- just out of reach for someone of her stature. She shopped while sharing the gospel of Jesus and was never ashamed to pray for people even if it was in the middle of the produce section or at the check-out line.

Betty was born on April 25, 1932, in the back woods of Caldwell West Virginia to Cecil and Nellie Hoke. She was seventh among her siblings- Delbert, George, Howard, Arnold, Edward, Orphia, Norma Jean, Thelma, and James. She grew up during the Great Depression and was inflicted with rickets and underwent medical treatment at a hospital far from home. Due to the distance and her parents’ lack of transportation, she did not see her family for over a year. She spoke of how she and other sick children were pushed in their beds onto a large deck and left for hours in the hot sun as part of their treatment. She was taught to tap dance and sing for the staff, to strengthen her legs. After reuniting with her family, she went on to become an entertainer, making her debut performing for local radio stations and area churches. She found Jesus at the age of seven and her teen years were spent in church and at camp meetings. She met the love of her life, Alvin at the Appalachian Pentecostal Holiness Camp Meeting in Dublin, Virginia. She said Alvin was the only man she ever had eyes for some honesty may be lacking in her claim because being married for 70 years likely consisted of some glares and stink eye stares.

Betty and Alvin never had a lot of money or material things, but they were blessed with six children- Queenie, Angela, Alvin, Joey, Sonja, and Misty and they made sure to take them to church and teach them about Jesus. The kids learned early on that neither rain, sleet, nor snow would cancel a service, and pretending to be sick in an attempt to stay home just led to more time spent at the altar waiting on God’s divine healing. As a young child sleeping during church on wood-slatted pews was the exception which left impressions on the face; but falling asleep during service as a teenager would likely leave unwanted impressions. Betty was selfless, many times she would forgo her desired wants just so she could use the money to buy a jumping horse, a doll, or another toy for her kids. She wanted all her children and grandchildren to serve God- actually, she wanted everyone to become preachers. This way she could be certain to spend eternity in heaven with her. Betty was an entrepreneur- creating income by leveraging her beloved chickens, marketing “anointed eggs” praying over each egg to ensure a holy yolk, and ensuring every carton was decorated with an abundance of scriptures. She coined the term “GW “ fashion and her children walked the runway- sometimes in mismatched but always in style. She frequented thrift stores, yard sales, and Goodwill’s, buying brass trinkets and baby dolls. Betty loved to eat- mac and cheese and chicken and dumplings were among her favorites with the exception of the 4 piece KFC thigh obsession she requested on a daily basis for months- often she threw a tantrum when she was unable to get anyone to bring her some or if it wasn’t served the way she wanted (with cole slaw and mashed potatoes). Many Sundays after church she would fix dinner for her entire family, involving all the kids in preparing the meal. She would gather the kids around the table giving them a ball of biscuit dough-most of which was dropped on the floor and or eaten before it ever made it to the oven. But she somehow still produced melt-in-your-mouth yeast rolls, donuts, biscuits, and loaves of bread- enough to feed the multitudes.

Everyone knew of Betty’s love of God, and she praised God in good times and in the bad. She whistled a tune everywhere she went, and she was an amazing piano player, despite having never been taught to play. Betty played and sang at the Vicker Pentecostal Holiness Church, often she was so involved in her praise in worship never realized she was singing off-tune and sounding more like a symphony of squawking pigeons than an angelic harmony. But those who knew Betty knew her singing was a deep expression of her relationship with God and the beauty was not in the sound but in the act of worship.

Anyone who ever met Betty knew her as the lady in red- not to be confused with the “scarlet harlot” of Revelation- she was a beautiful, godly woman who loved the color red. She loved red as much as she loved Alvin and made it known that he was the only man she ever loved. She wore red every day and accessorized with big clunky heels and a big red purse filled with the necessities of looking and feeling good for the Lord: a tub of Ponds Cold Cream (she never looked her age), mint flavored Rolaids (for the belly afflictions of the righteous and offering to grandkids who weren’t allowed chewing gum at church), bottled water (for quenching thirst and for the unexpected baptism), ketchup packets and sugar cubes (snacks for low blood sugar resulting from missed lunches when the morning services turned into evening worship); panty hose (in case of stepping on said ketchup packets and soiling the undergarment of praise or for replacing the holy pair snagged from pew jumping in the spirit), a 5lb baggie of coins (so the kids all had money to put in the offering), a hairbrush and bobby pins (for repositioning anointing oil soaked hairdos ruined by the laying on of hands in prayer), and a set of car keys attached to a ring of 25 random keys- that we are still trying to figure out what they go to.

Over the years Betty struggled with hearing loss- likely brought on by years of screaming children and loud preachers. Conversing with Betty was like having a vocal showdown or rather a verbal wrestling match- often all the hand gestures and enunciating would exhaust one long before Betty was able to make out what was being discussed. Looking back, one could say that investing in a Megaphone and PA system would have been a better choice than purchasing those tiny “Miracle Ear” pieces. However- miracles occurred throughout Betty’s life and she would be the first to tell you of the numerous times she was pulled from death’s grip and how miraculous it was when God showed up just in time to confound the doctors involved in her care. Her medical record is a testament to how the Great Physician had a hand in her recovery as modern medicine could not bring anyone back from what she encountered.

When Betty wasn’t dragging her kids to church, she was being dragged by her kids to the creek with a jug of water, a big ole Bible, and a bag of sugar. Lots of years were spent on the riverbanks and in the woods, building forts, picking tea berries, and digging sasafrass root for tea. Despite being a God-fearing woman-she told a few lies and encouraged some mischief in her day- but in her defense being stuck on a riverbank with a bunch of kids, defenseless worms, and minnows justified the many times she encouraged us to become activists-making loud joyful noises, baptizing one another in the water and setting the captive worms and minnows free to obtain her deliverance from dad’s overnight fishing expeditions. Her mischief led to Dad tossing out his prized waterbed, which she secretly hated- after teaching the kids to sew, never punishing us for the needle holes and water leaks that occurred during the lesson. Betty broke the law a time or two- her love of wildflowers caused her to give in to the temptation of picking forbidden flowers and wound up on the Endangered Lady Slipper’s Most Wanted List- created by her eldest daughter Queenie, a nature-loving, tree hugger naturalist whose specialty was mass production of babies (7 daughters) and breast milk. Betty was never caught in the act, and I am pretty certain she has moved on to picking flowers of an unending supply in her new home in the sky.

Betty’s belief in sparing the rod and spoiling the child wavered as she aged. She became more of an activist- preventing many backseat hairbrush disciplinary actions and she became a major protester of the Clean Your Plate movement- Of course, this was only after being subjected to backseat brush bristles meant for the grandchildren and encountering the projectile vomiting that accompanies the “eat everything on your plate” discipline.

We were greatly blessed to learn many valuable lessons from Betty during her 91 years, among them: never throw away anything because it’s wasteful and you never know when you might be lacking or find yourself in a place of need. So, she leaves behind several water jugs, a stockpile of Rolaids and pantyhose, an elaborate collection of Hardees Styrofoam gravy and biscuit containers, and an array of KFC cardboard boxes, paper cups, and mashed potato bowls with matching plastic eating utensils. Among her inheritance are 2,433 dolls- porcelain and plastic, large and small- dolls that talk, dolls that walk, and dolls that sing and dolls that cry- some beautiful and some that would be terrifying to come upon in the dark. Over her lifetime Betty invested in dolls and precious metals- aluminum, silver, brass, and copper. She meticulously hand-washed recyclable treasures consisting of Friskies cat food cans, soda cans, figurines, trinkets, leftover construction project piping and wiring, pots, pans, and mismatched silverware- all sorted and compiled in Hefty reinforced black designer bags and stored in steel-enforced cans. Lastly and most importantly, is the heavenly inheritance that is laid up for all who find forgiveness of sins with Jesus Christ.

Betty Hoke Sheppard was preceded in death by her husband, Alvin Sheppard Sr. Brothers: Delbert, George, Arnold, and Edward Hoke; Sister Orphia Pitzenbarger, Granddaughters: Alexis Smith, Brielynn Mills, and Megan Sheppard. Betty is survived by her children: Queenie & Larry Shelor, Angela & Bobby Overstreet, Alvin II & Sharon Sheppard, Sonja Martin, Brian Martin, Misty & Christopher Queen; Grandchildren: Shona Farmer, Winona Linkous, Leona Alexander, Keona Mobley, Niona Nester, Halona David, Annona Shelor, Jamie Witt, Angel Turner, Jessica Miller, Denise Smith, Zach Sheppard, Alvin Sheppard III, Malieta Sheppard, Samuel Sheppard; Chandra, Simeon & Foster Sheppard, Caitlin Brown, Matthew Martin, Sierra Queen; Great-Grand Children: Kalla Harris, Shriah Edwards, Stephen Marshal, Shikinah Bain, Karsyn, Kasey & Raven Mobley, Oliver Nester, Cooper & Roasaleigh David, Micheal, Alex, & Abby Witt, Holly Eure, Daniel, Nathaniel, Brooke & Brett Smith, Christina, Falisha, Phillip, Daniel, Maggie & Montana Miller, Skyler Helms, Isaiah & Shiloh Sheppard, Rowan Brown; Great-Great-Grandchildren Brealynn Miller, Sophia & Riley Bain, Evelyn Marshal, Alan Huff.

Services will be held at The Fairlawn Church of God (7858 Peppers Ferry Blvd Fairlawn, Va 24141). Visitation is from 3 pm – 5 pm, Service begins promptly @ 5 pm. Flowers and condolences can be sent directly to the church. Monetary donations can be made in lieu of flowers and will be used to reduce the excess burden of medical debt and burial expenses.

Online condolences may be sent to the family by visiting www.seaglefuneralhome.com Arrangements by Seagle Funeral Home, Pulaski. 540-980-1700