Mrs. Betty H. Land

Betty is the daughter of Kenneth R. Hall and Alice Jones Hall of New York. Being the daughter of a Navy Officer, Betty and her sister Jane moved many times to many different locations including Guantanomo, Cuba, Guam, New Orleans and San Diego to name a few. As a young girl, she enjoyed anything to do with animals, especially horseback riding. She was quite the equestrian. The Hall family moved to Apopka from Cuba after the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1942 where Betty entered the ninth grade. She graduated from Apopka Memorial High School in 1945 and immediately left Apopka for Georgetown University Nursing School in Washington DC. While she was home on summer vacation in 1946, she attended a dance where Leon and Florence Sheppard introduced her to a handsome young man home from WWII. That young man was her future husband, John. When Betty graduated from Georgetown University in 1948, she returned to Apopka and she and John were inseparable. They were married in The First Baptist Church of Apopka on June 10, 1949 and settled down in Apopka. Shortly after that, John would successfully run for Mayor of Apopka and that would chart the course of most of Betty’s adult life. Betty worked briefly at Orange Memorial Hospital then became the nurse for Thomas “Doc Tommy” McBride where she worked for over 25 years. She loved nursing and would frequently go to homes to check on patients. While she wasn’t comfortable in the political limelight, she was always by John’s side for all the city and community events. Most of all, she adored her family life with John and their three children, Suzanne, Cathy and Johnny. She appreciated raising their children in a community that was so supportive and close knit.  She was known as “Aunt Betty” to everyone and her children laugh that they thought everyone in town was a relative. In her later years, she enjoyed volunteering at the church, cooking for family and friends and being with her children and grandchildren. She is survived by her sister Jane Hall, children Suzanne Land Larkin (Jon), Catherine Land Waters (Robert), John Land, Jr., grandchildren Catherine Giles, Samantha Land Miles (J), Caroline Land Falcona (Gavin), Robert Jordan Waters Jr. (Elaine Kim), India Land Waters ;great grandchildren Jacob Miles, Penny Kim Waters and Ozzie Lee Waters and her cousin Douglas Hall.

The service will be streamed on the Facebook page for First Presbyterian Church of Apopka.