Betty Currens Morton

Mrs. Betty Currens Morton, age 92, of Clarksville, Tennessee, passed away on Sunday, July 6, 2025.

The Celebration of Life will be at 11:00 am on Saturday, July 12, 2025, at Greenwood Cemetery, with Dr. Ronny Raines officiating. The family will receive friends from 5:00 to 6:00 pm on Friday, July 11, at First Baptist Church of Clarksville.

Betty was born in Louisville, Kentucky to Juanita Hartford Currens and Florin Edward Currens on June 19, 1933. She moved 21 times growing up due to her father’s work for the Ford Tractor Company. She often reminded us that she had gone to three different first-grade classes. When Betty was 14, her family moved to Maryville, Tennessee. She was selected as a cheerleader, and soon after, she asked a boy on the football team to the Sadie Hawkins dance. David wrote later, “Little did we know at the tender age of 14 that we would be spending the rest of our lives together. Maybe we did.” At the football banquet during their sophomore year of high school, they were named “Married Sophs.” The same year, David gave Betty a Hallmark card that said “A Christmas Wish for My Wife” on the front.

But, as David wrote later, “At the end of our sophomore year, it all came to a screeching halt.” Betty’s father was promoted, and the family moved back to Louisville. Betty and David stayed pen pals throughout high school and during their first two years of college. Betty was attending the University of Louisville, where she pledged Pi Beta Phi, while David was at the University of Tennessee. Eventually, they decided letters and occasional visits weren’t enough. Betty convinced her father that the UT home economics department was far better, and she needed to transfer. David wrote, “Our romance started again that never really had gone away.” Betty and David became engaged in 1954, just before David went to dental school, and they married a year later. They adored each other and were married for 69 years before David passed away last August. Their family is heartbroken to lose them, but is grateful that they don’t have to spend another day apart.

Betty and David moved to Clarksville in 1959, where, after having moved frequently as a child, she put down deep roots for more than six decades. She was an active member of First Baptist Church. She loved children—Betty taught first grade when she and David were living in Memphis after getting married, and she worked in the First Baptist Church and Christian Women’s Club nurseries for more than 50 years. She also volunteered with Meals on Wheels and worked for the state courts. Betty was an excellent cook, hostess, and collector. She treasured visits from her little brother Bud, who loved to surprise her as much as she loved his surprises. Most of all, Betty dearly loved her daughters, Missy and Margee.

She is survived by her daughters Melissa Morton Reece (Ted) and Margaret Morton Ritchie (Wayne); grandchildren Alan Reece (Megan), David Reece (Anna Beth), Natalie Ritchie Zionce (Jacob), and Robert Ritchie; and great-grandchildren Warner, Fitz, Holland, Felix, and Sawyer. She was predeceased by her husband, David; parents, Ed and Juanita; and brother, Wood E. (“Bud”) Currens.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Good Samaritan Ministry (fbct.org/goodsam), 435 Madison Street, Clarksville, TN 37040.

Arrangements are in the care of McReynolds-Nave & Larson Funeral Home,1209 Madison Street, Clarksville, Tennessee. Online condolences may be made to Betty’s family at NaveFuneralHomes.com.