CLASS ACTS Passing of Music Star,
Queens Alumna Bety Johnson Gray ’51, died in Blufon, South Carolina, on Nov. 6, 2022, at age 93. As a member of the gospel music group The Johnson Family Singers, the Charlote native began touring and performing during her youth. Her solo career resulted in multiple recording contracts over the years as well as 10 Billboard Top Pop Singles. She frequently made appearances on television shows such as "The Tonight Show," "The Bob Newhart Show" and "The Ed Sullivan Show." She was most widely known for her 1956 hit "I Dreamed" and
her catalog of recordings can be found on streaming platforms. The Johnson Family Singers were featured in Ken Burns' "Country Music" documentary; Bety was interviewed for and appeared in the 2019 film. A longtime active resident of Haverhill, New Hampshire,
she moved to South Carolina in 2019. Bety recorded her last album "Four Shades of Gray" with her daughter and granddaughters in 2017.
— Nicole Ward Beckley
Trailblazing Leader, Beloved Community
Member Mourned Born on Jan. 10, 1952, Judge Shirley Fulton MBA ’98 passed away Feb. 8 in Charlote. Fulton was known as a servant leader and community advocate. In 1982, Fulton became the first Black female assistant district atorney in Mecklenburg County. Later, Fulton was the first Black woman to be elected to the Superior Court in North Carolina. In
2003, Fulton retired from the bench but continued practicing law and stayed active in the community. Fulton received numerous awards including the Governor’s
Order of the Long Leaf Pine; the North Carolina Supreme Court Justices’ Professionalism Award; the North Carolina Bar Association’s (NCBA) Legal Legends of Color Award; the NCBA Citizen Lawyer Award; the North Carolina Association of Women Atorneys Judge of the Year Award; the North Carolina Charlote Woman of the Year Award; the Urban League Whitney Young Award; the NAACP Legal Defense Fund Award; and the Charlote Black Pages USA Lifetime Achievement Award. The 2023 McMillan Distinguished Service Award will be
bestowed posthumously to Fulton by the North Carolina State Bar. — Nicole Ward Beckley
SUMMER 2023 41 IN MEMORIAM
Queens honors the lives and memories of alumni who have recently passed
Billie Morton Clark ’48, 9/30/2022 Phyllis Davidson Melton ’95, 10/3/2022 Elizabeth Gopfert Muench ’60, 10/21/2022 Angie McCaskill Smith ’56, 10/22/2022 Donnie Rhodes Yandle ’47, 10/24/2022 Jo Pat Cook Wing ’54, 11/1/2022 Jane Smith Washington ’52, 11/2/2022 Betty Johnson Gray ’51, 11/6/2022 Mary Burdell Chalifour ’58, 11/15/2022 Lindsay Marshall Green ’57, 11/26/2022 Julia Keys Williams ’43, 11/30/2022 Harvey Gossett ’12, 12/8/2022 Mary Manning Boyer ’57, 12/10/2022 Jack Burson ’18, 12/16/2022 Jacque Jetton Coxe ’55, 12/22/2022 Sue McCoy Mack ’90, 12/26/2022 Kathryn Woods Reid ’60, 1/4/2023 Vivian Crowther Timmerman ’59, 1/4/2023 Liz Parker Harrison ’59, 1/6/2023 Hobby Abernethy Evans ’58, 1/14/2023 Joe Hudson ’61, 1/21/2023 Melba Teague Umstead ’53, 1/2/2023 Pat Bishop Brown ’57, 1/28/2023 Betty Gore Harrington ’51, 1/30/2023 Shirley Fulton ’98, 2/8/2023 Margaret Warneke Shull ’46, 2/9/2023 Ruth Woods Moreau ’58, 2/12/2023 Thomas Edwards ’97, 2/22/2023 Ann Scott Gray Winters ’69, 2/28/2023 Wilda Dellinger Council ’45, 3/4/2023 Lynn Blacksher Morris ’79, 3/14/2023 Laura Caldwell Gentry ’51, 3/22/2023
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