Service
Friday, December 3, 2021 | Wake: 11:00 | Service: 12:00 p.m. |
Howell Funeral Home Chapel | 10220 Guilford Road | Jessup, MD 20794
Celebration of Life for Betty Blackstone Small
Interment
Arbutus Memorial Park | 1101 Sulphur Spring Road | Baltimore, MD 21227
Obituary
Betty Blackstone Small was born March 12, 1939. She was the eldest child born to the late Mildred Queen Blackstone and Hamilton Blackstone Sr. On November 25, 2021 she peacefully departed this life in her home surrounded by her family.
Betty grew up, with her brother Junior in the community of Queenstown and was a member of Metropolitan UMC. She attended Queenstown elementary school and graduated from Wiley Bates HS, in Annapolis Md. She further extended her education and attended Morgan State College.
During the 1960s she was employed at the Department of Commerce in Washington D.C. where she met the love of her life, Phillip E. Small. Together they were participants in Civil Rights era and attended the March on Washington.
The couple later married at the home of the Small family in Washington D.C. The newlywed couple returned to Severn to live and raise their family. From this union they were blessed with three daughters and were married for 25 years, until Phillip’s passing.
After raising her family, she returned to work for the Department of Army, Ft. Meade, where she retired after 25 years. In her retirement, she renovated and moved into her grandparents’ home, where she hosted many family Christmas, Thanksgiving and Easter dinners.
During retirement she loved traveling, as she considered the experience as a form of education. Her first overseas trips were to visit her daughter and son-in-law where she traveled to the U.K, France, and other places. She enjoyed cruising the islands of the Caribbean, outings to Sandy Point and watching the Orioles, occasionally attending home games with her grandson Phillip and daughter Erica.
A devoted mother and grandmother Betty was loved by many and will always remain in our hearts. She is survived by her daughters, Phillisa (Leon), Samantha (Frank) and Erica; six grandchildren, Phillip, Francine, Ryan, Camryn, Stephanie, and Jasmine; one great-grandson, Donovan; four sisters-in-law, Sallie Hall, Evelyn Sheppard, Nancy Small, and Laura Small; one brother-in-law, Hariold Hall and a host of family and friends.
