Betty June Hayes, former Orange County Register of Deeds, passed early Wednesday morning at the Duke In-Patient Care Facility hospice in Hillsborough.
She was born in Wink, TX, May 27, 1929, to Hardee Boyett and Annie Robbie Plott Boyett. Betty June came to Hillsborough with her mother when Mrs. Boyett returned to help her aged father, Thomas J. Plott. Mrs. Plott Boyett later divorced Mr. Boyett and subsequently married Paul Hayes of Hillsborough.
Betty June graduated from Hillsborough High School. During her senior year, she began working in the Orange County Register of Deeds Office. In 1954, she ran for the Office of Register and was elected. She served in that office until December of 1998.
During her tenure as Register of Deeds, she was very active in professional associations at both State and National levels. She was recognized and awarded by the North Carolina Registers of Deeds Associations for designing and initiating the state-wide Certification Program for Registers of Deeds, Assistants and Deputies. She served in North Carolina Register of Deeds Association and concurrently in the National Association of County Recorders and Clerks on various committees, many of these as Chairman.
Long active in Orange County historical, state professional and political activities, she was National Committee Woman for the State of North Carolina for the Young Democrats 1957 to 1959; honored as Tar Heel of the Week by the Raleigh News and Observer in 1970; and Orange County Democrat of the Year in 1982. In 1996, she received the Mary Claire Engstrom Distinguished Service Award for her work in preserving local historical records.
She was an active member of the First Baptist Church in Hillsborough. She participated strongly in youth programs and various church committees. In later years she maintained her participation as an active choir member.
She was also part of a group who advocated the establishment of a hospice in the Hillsborough area.
She is survived by her cousin, Nancy Tempesta of Hillsborough; and her nephews, Sid Emmons of Benton, Ariz., Michael Burchas of Downers Grove, Ill., and Allen Bruchas of Wichita, Kan.
She was preceded in death by her mother, Robbie Hayes; her brother, Bill Emmons; her sister-in-law, Lynelle Emmons of Benton, Ariz.; and her sister Doris Bruchas of Downers Grove, Ill.
A memorial service for Betty June Hayes was held Saturday, March 22 at the First Baptist Church of Hillsborough.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her name to the First Baptist Church of Hillsborough or the Duke Hospice in Hillsborough.
Condolences may be sent to the family at www.walkersfuneralservice.com.
Arrangements are with Walker’s Funeral Home of Hillborough.