Betty’s work ethic earns her BEM honour

Betty has been a stalwart within the Markethill/Mountnorris community for a lifetime – working tirelessly across a number of fronts while facing up to family tragedies.

The mother of seven, with her husband Jim, says she has always had the support and inspiration of her husband and all their children especially after the loss their two sons – Neil and Howard - in separate road accidents.

Indeed between her two sons and five daughters they racked up an amazing 84 years full attendance between Markethill Primary and Markethill High School – earning the family a place in the Guinness Book of Records.

It’s a work ethic the children have obviously inherited from their parents. For Betty that work ethic was instilled at an early age, growing up on the family farm.

Betty said, ”I was reared on a farm and if my parents saw you sitting down doing nothing we would be handed a brush and be told to sweep the yard. There was no such thing as sitting about doing nothing.”

It’s certainly something Betty has taken to heart. She celebrated her 78th birthday on Saturday but still continues to work, doing up to 32 hours a week in the caring profession.

That work ethic brought her involvement with the highly successful Markethill Community Festival.

The festival started for the Queen’s Silver Jubilee in 1977 and Betty was encouraged to enter her children at that time for the fancy dress competition organised by Mr Robin Dalzell MBE.

It wasn’t long before she was persuaded to join the organising committee and went on to take on the role of treasurer 25 years ago.

Her husband Jim gave her his support in all her ventures by serving as baby-sitter for the children as Betty attended all the Committee meetings. The couple also ran the filling station in the town for a long number of years.

Obviously this year’s festival fell victim to the Covid-19 restrictions but Betty says the Committee will be looking at events for next year and she’s already been contacting local businesses to enlist their support for three charities this year – the NI Air Ambulance, Kidney Care (UK) and the Patients Comfort Fund in Markethill Health Centre, which she says has made it a busy year.

Her involvement with the festival was just one of the reasons for her nomination for an honour. Another aspect was her contribution to the Mountnorris area, particularly through the John Hunter Accordion Band.

Founded by her father John Hunter the day after the Queen’s coronation, Betty was keen to join the band at its beginning but her father said she was ‘too wee’ to carry an accordion.

Not to be deterred when one of the original girl band members left after a year Betty “grabbed her accordion and wouldn’t let go”. Indeed she still has it, bearing her name in the bellows – ‘Betty Hunter, 8th June, 1954’.

She still plays with the band and while not parading due to Covid and her age she attends practices when they are allowed and participates in sit-down performances.

Again Betty works within the band to ensure local charities are supported.

Of her BEM Betty said “I never looked for recognition, I did it because I was helping good causes and others.”

In her working life Betty served as secretary to the first principal of Markethill High School before moving into other office work and then she and her husband Jim bought the filling station in Markethill which they ran with the help of their daughter Honor and the rest of their children when they came in from school, for 25 years before ‘retiring’.

And Betty’s final words were a tribute to her family: “All of them gave Jim and I their full support at all times.”

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