Betty Jo Grady

Betty Jo Mercer Grady, age 87, of Wilson, passed away on Saturday, March 23, 2024 at home with her loved ones. 

Betty Jo was born in Lucama and later moved to Wilson, where she lived all her life. She graduated from Charles L. Coon High School and UNC Women’s College.  She married the love of her life, Roland Augustus Grady II, in 1960. She was a teacher at St. Therese School. Her home in Wilson was a welcoming place for her children and their friends growing up and many remember gathering around her kitchen table. With her husband and family, she traveled to Hawaii, England, Switzerland, and more, but her favorite place to go was Topsail Beach. Betty Jo loved to read and solve crossword and jigsaw puzzles. She loved her beagles, Dolly and Daisy. She was proud to be a grandmother.

The family is sincerely grateful to Betty Jo’s caregivers and friends including Betty Duke, Tewanda Melton, Bonita Applewhite, and the teams at Brentwood Home Care and Hospice of Wilson.

She was preceded in death by her parents George and Sadie Lamm Mercer; husband, Roland Augustus Grady II; son, Robert Stephen Grady, and daughter, Kathi Grady Daly. 

Betty Jo is survived by her brother Steve Mercer and his wife, Carolyn, of Roanoke Rapids; daughter, Susan Grady Wyche of Raleigh, and her granddaughters, Taylor and Jillian Daly of Durham, and Beaufort and Lucy Wyche of Raleigh.

Family and friends are invited to join us for a graveside service at Maplewood Cemetery in Wilson on Saturday, April 6 at 11:00 am.