Bettye Jean Aulin Reagan

Bettye Jean Aulin Reagan, 88, loving wife of Donald (Don) Thomas Reagan for 64 years, died March 21, 2022 after a courageous battle with a lengthy illness.

Born in Sanford, Florida on January 27, 1934, Bettye was the youngest daughter of the late Mary Alice Powell Aulin and Andrew Aulin, Jr. Bettye grew up in Oviedo, Florida where she graduated from Oviedo High School as valedictorian. A year after Bettye graduated she moved to Sanford to marry her first husband, Joel Edwin McGill. They had two children, Daniel (Dan) and Kathy (Kate). Joel lost his life in a work-related train accident three years after they were married. Later Bettye married Don whom she met when they were teaching the second grade Sunday school class at the First Baptist Church in Sanford. Don and Bettye had four more children. They moved from Sanford to their beloved home in Lake Mary in 1969.

Bettye was the quintessential mother of six children. She thoroughly enjoyed her children and never missed a PTA meeting, play or dance recital, ball game or tennis match, band concert or any other activity or program that her children where in. The Sanford Herald named her "Outstanding Mom" in 1982. She was also a highly competitive tennis player and played women's league tennis until she turned 80. In the mid-70s she began taking art lessons at Seminole Community College and Loc Haven Art Center where she launched a new venture as a pastel artist. Bettye is well known for her paintings of people and Florida landscapes done in vibrant colors. Bettye was the winner of numerous awards from art galleries and shows across the country and her paintings can also be found in homes throughout central Florida. She was a past president of the Sanford-Seminole Art Association, Director of the First Street Gallery and a member of the Florida Pastel Society. Bettye was a Dividend for Seminole County Schools and taught many about honey bees/bee keeping, which was a second business she helped her husband Don start.

Bettye and Don attended Westview Baptist Church where she loved singing in the choir and the fellowship of her church family. Bettye also enjoyed her role as the Celery City Queen in the local production of Celery Soup which told the stories of Florida folk life. From 2010 to 2012 Bettye participated in these performances held at the Princess Theater in downtown Sanford.

In addition to her parents, Bettye was predeceased by her daughter, Kathleen (Kate) Ann Reagan; son, Patrick Kelly Reagan; grandson, James Richardson; sister, Mary Leonora Aulin Bartlett; and brothers, Charles Warren Aulin and Andrew Aulin. Surviving in addition to her husband are her children, Dan Reagan (Rose); Debbie Reagan Wilder (Bob); Julie Reagan Hood (Jeff); and Scott Reagan (Marti), who are all residents of Seminole County. She was a grandmother to three and a great grandmother to 12. She is also survived by her sister, Alice Kathryn Aulin Bunch, who recently relocated from Lake Mary to Alabama.

A celebration of life service will be held at 10 a.m. on Saturday, April 2, 2022, at Westview Baptist Church, Sanford, Florida. Following the service, the burial will be at Oaklawn Cemetery. A covered dish reception will be held back at Westview Baptist Church following the burial.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to AdventHealth Hospice Care, 480 W. Central Pkwy., Altamonte Springs, FL 32714.

A fascinating interview entitled "Oral History of Bettye Jean Aulin Reagan" can be seen on YouTube.

Funeral arrangements by Newcomer Funeral Home, Longwood, Florida.

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