Elizabeth “Betty” McGuire Petty passed away peacefully on March 3, 2026.
Born April 22, 1942, to Grace Robinson and William Bulgin McGuire in Charlotte, NC, Betty graduated from Charlotte’s Myers Park High School in 1960. After graduating from Sweet Briar College in 1964, she lived in New York City where she worked for the Rockefeller Foundation and had the chance to meet many of the authors she studied in college.
Betty returned to North Carolina and started a family with her first husband. She was deeply engaged in her community, including the Junior League of Winston-Salem where she helped start a juvenile justice program. Betty also pursued and obtained a master’s degree in psychiatric nursing and worked as a psych nurse in Winston-Salem.
In 2002, Betty married the love of her life, Douglas Petty. They made their home in Vero Beach, Florida for much of their marriage before moving to Williamsburg Landing, Virginia in 2023. Betty never met a stranger. She engaged with every person she met. And she could engage for some time. She spontaneously created fun and whimsical activity wherever she went and was a dedicated mother, grandmother, and spouse. When walking her young grandchildren, she would inspire curiosity and wonder by encouraging amazement at every small thing they noticed. Betty loved to be outside walking in nature.
She is survived by her second husband, Douglas Petty of Williamsburg, VA; her daughters, Liz (Bob) Blue of Richmond, VA, and Nikki Appel (Melinda Daniels) of Brooklyn, NY; her grandchildren, John Blue, Tom Blue, Eliza Blue, Lyle Daniels and Laura Daniels; her brothers, William (Suzanne) McGuire, Jr. and Robert (Nancy) McGuire of Charlotte, NC; her sister-in-law, Tina McGuire of Asheville, NC; as well as numerous nieces and nephews, stepdaughters, step-grandchildren and step-great grandchildren.
She was predeceased by her brother John McGuire.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial contributions be made to the Mainspring Conservation Trust of Franklin, NC or charity of choice.
The family will hold a celebration of Betty’s life at the Williamsburg Landing Auditorium on Saturday, March 28 at 2 p.m.
