BY STEPHEN H. COWLES/CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Playback58@gmail.com

WINDSOR—The sons of Betty Alphin of Windsor intend to continue a legacy made to honor their mother, who died Wednesday.

Len Alphin said Friday he and his brother, Thomas, both of Windsor, would make a contribution to the Betty J. Alphin Sunshine Fund. This is intended to brighten the lives of members of Windsor Christian Church as well as community residents.

The account was established nine years ago by one of her nephews, Tommy Johnson of Oswego, N.Y.

“After my own mother, Louise Whisenant, passed away, I wrote a letter to the minister at the church to set up a fund in Betty’s name that people could donate,” said Tommy Johnson.

He explained that when his mother was sick for a long time and always needed care, Betty Alphin was available to help when he couldn’t.

“She was so good to my mother,” Johnson said, adding that her compassion extended to other people as well.

“Betty was a super lady. She did things for everybody,” said Johnson.

“’Oh, gosh. You didn’t have to do that,’” was her reaction to the fund’s creation, he said.

“Our mom was the type of person to help people, but not look for recognition,” said Thomas Alphin.

Grace Ballard, whose husband, Basil, was pastor from 1994 to 2006, said money has been used for “words of encouragement.”

Cards or flowers would be sent to shut-ins “to let people know we care about them,” said Ballard. “A lot of times we didn’t know who it was.”

The fund’s name is typical of the kind of person Betty Alphin was to others, she said.

“She was a wonderful lady,” Ballard said. “She just loved people. So friendly. So smart; she served on just about every church board.”

Among those was the search committee that brought the Ballards to Windsor Christian.

One of the fund’s other uses is to help pay for receptions after funerals, she added.

“We are doing a reception, my brother and I, but I can’t say that money’s going to be pulled from the fund,” said Len Alphin.

Donations can be made to the Betty J. Alphin Sunshine Fund, P.O. Box 407, Windsor, Va., 23487.