Betty Fiveash Harris, age 95, passed away on May 9, 2021 at Parkside Post Acute Rehabilitation Center in Snellville, Georgia.
Born March 17, 1926 in Ashburn, Georgia to Eileen and Newton Fiveash, she was the youngest of seven children, all of whom predeceased her. She is survived by a daughter and her spouse, Jo Anne and Hugh Rowland; three grandchildren and their spouses, Julio and Maranda Barea, Christina and Peyton Young, Phillip and Abeba Barea; and five great-grandchildren, Alana and Alex Barea, Matteo Romo, and Rihanna and Remiel Barea.
In 1945, Betty married and moved to Atlanta where she lived for 75 years. An avid student with diverse interests, Betty was a trailblazer for women. As a single mother she graduated from University of Georgia System, Atlanta Division (now Georgia State University) with two degrees, one in Business Education, 1954, and one in English some years later. She then taught in the Atlanta school system before enrolling in Emory University in the 1960’s to study law. She graduated from Emory Law School in 1967 and joined the Georgia Bar Association. She became a member of the Georgia Court of Appeals in 1968 and the Georgia Supreme Court in 1969. Some years later, she returned to Emory where she received a Master’s degree in Library Science and worked as a librarian for the Department of Defense in Puerto Rico, before returning to Georgia to work as a librarian in Canton, Valdosta and Moultrie, Ga.
She was also an active member of Martha Brown Methodist Church in East Atlanta, where she played the piano for her Sunday School class until she was 88.
Family and close friends will gather Saturday, May 15, 2021 at 1:00 pm at Perry Funeral Chapel in Ashburn for a private funeral service. Interment will follow in Rose Hill Cemetery.