Caroline Bethea

Caroline Yundt Bethea died January 5, 2012 at the age of 90. Born June 13, 1921, a fourth generation
Atlantan, she was the daughter of Caroline Perdue and George J. Yundt, Sr. She was predeceased by her
parents; her husband of 32 years, Charles Gray Bethea, Sr; a son, Carter McLaurin Bethea; and four of
her five brothers and sisters. She graduated from Spring Street School and Washington Seminary where
she was elected Captain of the basketball team, President of her sorority and May Queen. She attended
Bradford Junior College in Massachusetts. She and three of her five brothers and sisters were born in
their family home on Seventeenth Street, which was then part of Ansley Park. She lived in Ansley Park
all of her life except for the war years while traveling with her husband, a US Navy Lieutenant and for
the few years prior to her death. She was Vice-President of the 1941-1942 Atlanta Debutante Club and
was presented by her parents at a formal dinner dance at the Piedmont Driving Club. She was a lifelong
member of the First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta where she was co-director of the city surplus food
program and was founder of an after-school program for latchkey neighborhood children. She
volunteered for many years in the sewing room of old Egleston Hospital, served on the Ansley Park Civic
Association Board and for 49 years served on the Board of Managers of the A.G. Rhodes Home. She was
a Pink Lady at Piedmont Hospital during the hospital’s formative years. She was a member of the Atlanta
Junior League, the Piedmont Driving Club and a charter member of the Atlanta Botanical Garden. An
avid and accomplished tennis tournament competitor, she won various city, state and regional
tournaments in women’s doubles until she was 66 years old. She is survived by her children Charles Gray
Bethea, Jr. Mary Moore Bethea, Caroline Perdue Bethea Brown and Richard King Bethea; sister Fritzi
Yundt Herring; grandsons Colin Gray Campbell, Charles Carter Bethea and Robert Camden Bethea;
former daughter in law, Sally S. Bethea; nieces and nephews; and her dear lifelong friends the James
Sibley family.
A Memorial Service will be held Wednesday, January 11, 2012, at 11 A.M. in the Winship Chapel at the
First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts in her name may be made to your
favorite Atlanta charity.