Dr. Betty Bradley Aldridge died on May 1, 2017, at Transitions Hospice Care, Raleigh, NC, surrounded by loving family. 

Born on October 22, 1947, Betty was a native of Raleigh,  After graduation from Enloe High School, she earned her baccalaureate in music from East Carolina University and then completed her Master's in Education at Campbell University.  Betty was a gifted singer and musician.  From the time she was a teenager, Betty served as an organist for many churches in North Carolina, including Raleigh, Greenville, and Laurinburg.  She pursued an opera career which took her to Washington, DC, where she trained with Carolyn Grant and later with Betty Allen.  She then performed in the New Orleands and Baton Rouge opera companies.  Following her operatic career, Betty moved to the Chicago area, where she served as organist for the Trinity United Church of Christ in Deerfield, Illinis, for 18 years.  During the time, Betty obtained both her Master of Arts and Doctoral degrees from the Illinois School of Professional Psychology.  In 2006, Betty returned to Raleigh where she practiced clinical psychology at Cherry Hospital, located in Goldsboro, NC, and also worked part-time with Juvenile Justice.  In 2009, she moved to Disability Services of NC.

Betty was a wonderfully gifted musician, deeply analytical thinker, adoring grandmother, loving mother, kind sibling and warm friend with a delightful sense of humor.  She had a wide social circle with people of various ages and interests in her orbit due to her depth of empathy and and capacity for nurturance and generosity.  While Betty did 'not suffer fools gladly,' she was always supportive of her friends, family, and colleagues, wherever she was, giving freely her intuition, insight, razor sharp with, with an open heart and nurturing spirit.  Betty was the liveliest person in the room, listening keenly, then slicing through dross to the heart of the matter.  She engaged each of us in a manner the challenged us and stroked us simultaneously.  She had a unique talent for listening and assessing with honest feedback or warm acceptance.

Betty will be sorely missed by anyone who had the pleasure of meeting her.

She is survived by her grandson Chezzie, who was the light of her life; her daughters Lorra Aldridge-Bayless and Jan Milani; John Aldridge, her husband of 50 years; her siblings, Sylvia Sutter (Bob, Sue Phillips (Lee), Lou Batton (Darnell), Michael Bradley, and Tim Bradley (Julie); her aunt, Katie Earl Morgan; uncle, Robert Owen (Lacye); and many special nieces, nephews, and cousins.

Donations may be made to one's charity of choice.