Betty Jane Gilbert, 96, of Oxford went home to be with the Lord Friday the 14th of August, 2020 at the Lake Orion Nursing Home. Her son Bruce and daughter Lori had been with her continuously the week prior.

When she was 95, Betty was living in her own home, living relatively independent, getting and sending e-mails, preparing her meals, and keeping house until a fall, a resulting injury and surgery required her to take up permanent residence at LONRC, in November of 2019.
Betty was preceded in death by her husband of 52 years, Orvill Gilbert; her parents Leah Niles Ellis and Orman Ellis; and her granddaughter Tawnya Marie. She is survived by three sisters, one brother, her two children, five grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren.
Down through the years Betty was an active member of the Oxford Free Methodist Church. She worked as a Sunday School teacher to 2nd, 3rd and 4th grade children, worked in Vacation Bible School, co-organizer with her husband of events for the “Young Elders,” a provider of food for potlucks and a member of her church’s “prayer chain.” In her sixties she established a licensed day care center in her home on Sebek in the Clear Lake Subdivision, and took care of numerous neighborhood children. Some of these children became like grandchildren that she was in contact with until the time of her passing.
Betty will be remembered for her gentleness, meekness and her desire for everyone she knew to come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ her Saviour.
On Monday, August 17, 2020 a small graveside service was held for Betty and was conducted by Lynch and Sons Funeral Directors. A larger celebration of Betty’s life will hopefully be at a later date. Donations can be made to the Oxford Free Methodist Church in her memory.