Betty Ruth Ayer Crews

HAMPTON  – Ruth Elizabeth "Betty Ruth" Ayer Crews, 96, died at home in Hampton, S.C. on November 21, 2021. Betty Ruth was born July 13, 1925 in Plant City, Florida to the late Aline Peeples Ayer and Frank Newton Kiefrouff Ayer. She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, Samuel Francis (S.F.) Crews, Jr. and her beloved sister, Jean Ayer Jarrell.

Betty Ruth Ayer graduated from Hampton High School and from Columbia College, Class of 1948.  She did post graduate work at the University of North Carolina as a recipient of the Reynolds Fellowship.  During her 35 years of teaching, Betty Ruth taught in Apalachicola, Florida; Summerville, SC;  Allendale County Schools; and Wade Hampton High School, Hampton, SC.

Mrs. Crews had an unmatched zest for life, loved all people and never met a stranger. In addition to her family and friends, her greatest loves were her former students, local history, genealogy, her Clemson Tigers, playing bridge and her church and civic organizations.

Mrs. Crews was an active member of the American Legion Auxiliary, Unit #108 having served for many years as president and chairman of the Girls State Committee.  She was a founding member and former president of the Hampton County Historical Society.  Mrs. Crews taught Sunday School and served on numerous committees and projects at the Hampton First Baptist Church. In later years, she sang in the Hampton United Methodist Church choir and participated in many activities in that church.  In 2010, she was awarded the James A. Moore Lifetime Achievement Award by the Arnold Fields Community Foundation. She and her husband were members of IPTAY for over 70 years.

Mrs. Crews is survived by her son, Samuel Francis Crews, III, Hampton, SC and his son and daughter in law, Samuel Francis Crews, IV and Mary Margaret Collins Crews, Cayce, SC and their son, Samuel Francis Crews, V; granddaughter Margaret Weston Fraser Crews and her husband, Robert Colmer Baddour, New Orleans, LA and granddaughter, Elizabeth Copeland Crews, New Orleans, LA. She is also survived by her daughter, Aline Ayer Crews Kilgore and her husband, Phillip Arthur Kilgore, Greenville ,SC and their daughter, Harriet Ruth Kilgore Scully and her husband, John Hampton Scully, Greenville, SC and their son Phillip Arthur Kilgore, Jr. and his wife, Bailey Ewing Kilgore.

Visitation will be at the Peeples-Rhoden Funeral Home, 300 Mulberry Street East, Hampton, SC from 5-8 pm on Tuesday, November 23, 2021.  Funeral Services will be held at 2:00 pm on Wednesday, November 24, 2021, at the Hampton First Baptist Church, Hampton, SC with interment to follow at the Hampton Cemetery, Holly Street Extension, Hampton, SC  29924

For those who care to send a memorial in Mrs. Crews' name, the family suggests the Hampton Cemetery Committee, 402 Shaw Drive, Hampton, SC  29924 or the Hampton County Historical Society, Post Office Box 152, Hampton, SC  29924.

Peeples-Rhoden Funeral Home, Hampton, SC is serving the family during this time.