News, Citizen Profile, Betty Hatcher Addison, LaSalle Parish, La.





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A Times - Signal Feature...
"Citizen Profile"
A Very Special Salute

From the Jena Times - Olla Tullos Urania Signal, Wed., Aug. 23, 2000, 
Section B, Page 5 

Hard times, handicap never stopped this Jena area lady

"The inspiration for my life is summed up in one verse of the Bible,
Philippians 4:13, which says æI can do all things through Christ which
strengtheneth me'," said this week's Citizen Profile Betty Addison of Jena. "I
really believe that if you put Christ first in your life and treat other
people how you'd like to be treated - that's what life is all about."

No truer words have ever been spoken and for all who know Mrs. Betty, they can
testify that is exactly the way she has lived and continues to live her life.

But she hasn't been without her share of hard times and seemingly set backs.
Through it all though, she has never stopped believing and trusting in the
Lord...even when it appeared her world had come to an end.

Mrs. Betty was born on January 20, 1941, in Biloxi, Mississippi, to Henry
"Buster" and Cora Hatcher. Shortly after she was born, the family moved back
to Jena where her father worked at the saw mills and on the railroad.

She came from a large family with eight children altogether, three boys abd
five girls, and they grew up in the Honeysuckle Community, now the Head Start
Loop area off of Hwy. 8 West of Jena. Later, the family would move to the Mars
Hill community where they stayed until she left home.

Church was a huge part of the family's life. They attended New Evergreen
Baptist Church until they moved to Mars Hill, then started attending Mars Hill
Baptist Church.

She started school at Mars Hill until she transferred to Goo Pine High School,
where she graduated in 1959. Mrs. Betty also attended college for two years at
Alcon University in Mississippi.

During her early life she recalls growing up in a "typical" Southern family,
which meant everyone, including the children worked.

"We all had to do a lot of work when we were growing up," Mrs. Betty said. "We
were brought up to work and that was instilled in us early on. We all had
chores to do and other work around the house."

She remembers that he daddy always raised a big garden and as usual, all the
children had a part in it whether they wanted to or not.

"Back then, we didn't have running water so we had a community (water) well
and had to carry our water to the house for all of our consumption, such as
drinking, bathing and washing," Mrs. Betty recalled. "We also didn't have
refrigerators, we had the old ice boxes. I remember us kids going to met the
ice truck. We had a little wagon that we pulled with a goat and carried the
big block ice back to the house."

After she returned to Jena from college, she began to court a man originally
from Ferriday named Johnny Addison. They met at Elbert Webster's Cafe, a place
were the teenagers met at, and they dated for a year before finally getting
married in September of 1963.

During the following years, six children were born (five girls and one boy) as
Mrs. Betty worked to help provide income while Mr. Johnny worked for Justiss
Oil Company.

She worked at Deluxe Cleaners for a while, then spent several years cooking at
various restaurants around Jena, including Nick's Cafe, Fowlers and J.J.'s,
just to name a few.

"I love cooking," Mrs. Betty said. "I always have and still do today."

But it was in July of 1967 when Mrs. Betty's life was turned upside down and
her faith in God was tested.

She was pregnant with her fifth child at the time and was due to deliver
shortly when one night there was a disturbance involving her father.

A gun was at the center of the disturbance and during the incident Mrs. Betty
was accidentally shot in her left hand. Mr. Johnny was also wounded with a
gunshot, but Mrs. Betty's wounds were considered much more serious due to the
fact that she was pregnant.

The following day held both good news and bad news for Mrs. Betty. The good
news was she delivered her fifth child and the baby was healthy with no
effects from the dramatic ordeal. The bad news, however, came when the doctors
informed her that she would no longer have use of her left hand as a result of
the gunshot wound. She ultimately stayed in the hospital for three months
recovering from the entire episode.

With the loss of her left hand, Mrs. Betty had many doubts and concerns about
what the future would hold for herself and her family.

"My first thought was that this would make me to where I couldn't work or do
all the things I used to do," she remembered. "But I knew that I was reared to
work so I knew I had to work - it then became an issue of finding what I could
do."

Because Mrs. Betty had some college experience she knew that there had to be
something she could do, and finding that something took what she calls an "act
of God."

Due to the fact that both Mr. and Mrs. Addison were injured during the
shooting, the family was placed on welfare. It was during this time that they
were assigned a social worker by the name of Neva Ingram.

"When Neva came to visit us she really impressed me," said Mrs. Betty. "I
remember thinking to myself,'I can do that', so I asked her how to go about
working for the state."

With her injury, it could have been very easy and socially acceptable for Mrs.
Betty to remain on welfare for her entire life, but this was not what she
wanted to do.

"I could have stayed on welfare for the rest of my life, but I wanted to work
and have a productive life," she said. "This was how I was brought up - to
work and be productive."

She then wrote letters to the state and inquired how to become a welfare
technician and letters were returned telling her the procedures. She took her
civil service test and then received a letter from the state telling her that
she did not qualify to become a welfare technician due to the lack of
education.

"I had two years of college but because I didn't graduate I didn't meet the
qualifications," she said. "But they did tell me that I could be a community
activity coordinator. I was excited at this until I learned that Jena was too
small to have a community activity coordinator."

So she started substitute teaching in the LaSalle Parish School System
instead, and eventually became a teacher's aide. She did this for nearly four
years until one day, after coming home from work, she learned through a friend 
that the Jena Welfare Office was looking to hire a community activity
coordinator.

"I immediately picked up the phone and set up an interview, went down there
for the interview and was hired on the spot," she said. "I reported to work
the very next week on August 7, 1972, as a community activities coordinator."

Over the next several months, Mrs. Betty was promoted once, then twice, then
three times in the welfare office. Then in November of 1974, just over two
years after being hired, she was promoted to the position of Welfare
Technician - the position that she had originally applied for seven years
earlier.

"What was great was Neva was still there, the one who I had gotten my
inspiration from was now my co-worker" she said. "Over the course of time we
have become close friends and I consider her part of my family."

Mrs. Betty never questioned why the shooting happened to her or why she had to
lose her hand, instead, she had looked at the injury as a turning point in her
life.

"I've always said that my handicap was my stepping point," she said. "I want
everyone to know that you can be the best at whatever you are no matter what
your handicap is."

Working at the welfare office was not just a job for Mrs. Betty, it was a
pleasure that she enjoyed tremendously.

"It was a good job and I enjoyed is," she said. "Oh, it had some problems like
all jobs do, but for the most part it was a great time. It really is how you
deal with people that makes the difference and I've always loved working with
people and always been a people person."

She worked as a Welfare Technician from 1977 until 1998, when she retired. She
said she learned much about people during that time and how the system is set
up to help people in need, but not become a way of life.

"I've always thought that we were there to help people, but I also believe
that people need to help themselves," Mrs. Betty said. "The state is there to
help you, but not to become your way of life."

Even when she was working for the state, she still had many trials and had to
work extremely hard to keep up the demands of raising a family.

"At one point I had three kids in college, so I took on extra jobs to help
provide money," Mrs. Betty continued. "I worked for the state until 4:30
(p.m.) Every day and then I cooked at J.J.'s thre days a week and on weekends.
It was hard but I actually enjoyed it."

The reason she had to take on extra work was because her husband's health was
failing due to diabetes. She said she wanted to kep her children in college to
allow them the opportunity to have productive lives.

Today, she is proud of all six of her children, who each have good jobs and
are providing for their families.

When Mr. Johnny began to struggle with his diabetes, life began to get harder
for Mrs. Betty, though she never complained about it.

"For four years before he passed, he had to have dialysis three times a week,"
she said. "I'd get up at 4:30 in the morning, take him to dialysis and come
back and go to work with the state until 11:00 (a.m.) When I'd have to go get
him, bring him home and feed him, and then go back to work."

Mrs. Betty becomes emotional when she thinks about that time and the way she
was treated by her Administrator at the Welfare Office, Sandy sanders.

"During those times when I was taking care of Johnny," she pauses as she wipes
tears from her eyes,"sometimes I wouldn't get back to work until 1 p.m. after
being gone since 11:00. Sandi never said a word about it and everyone at the
office was very supportive, especially her. She was always there for me."

Mrs. Betty said it was during those times that she truly felt that her co-
workers were part of her family.

"I called my co-workers my family and we were just like family," she said. "I
just can't say enough about Sandi and all she did for me. She was the
greatest."

In October of 1995, Mr. Johnny's disease ultimately claimed his life and for
the first time in her life she was alone.

But her faith in God, the same faith that sustained her through the loss of
her hand and the hard years of taking care of her husband, was again there to
get her through the death of her husband of 32 years.

Since her retirement in 1998, Mrs. Betty has been extremely busy. As stated
before, she is a people person and even in retirement she continues to work
with people.

"I still try to work and give back to the community," she said. "I try to keep
busy and this past year I worked myself senseless. I also did some
substituting last year and will probably be doing some more this year. There
is always something to do."

Along with doing some substitute work, Mrs. Betty is vice-president of the
Senior Choir at Mars Hill Baptist Church and is on the church program
committee. She is also on the board that started the Triad for the elderly in
LaSalle Parish and frequently drives elderly residents to doctors appointments
and other things. Also she is the Correspondent Secretary and Treasurer for
the Good Pine High School reunion Committee, is the Secretary/Treasurer for
Nesby Scholarship Foundation and collects and distributes food in the Food
Source Program for the parish.

"I really don't want to be remembered for all the things I have done in my
life but rather I would like to be remembered as a motivator - as an example
for someone who might be faced with an overwhelming tragedy in their life,"
she said. "If I could tell people one thing it would be that just because you
run into a difficulty, don't let that stop you. Le it instead motivate you to
do something."

And no other person in LaSalle Parish is a better example of this than Mrs.
Betty Addison. This week, we salute her as our Citizen Profile in hopes that
her life can inspire someone at this very moment who might be faced with a
seemingly unsurpassable obstacle.

"Just remember," she concluded. "You have to keep Christ first in your life
and always lean on Him. Then take time to help someone along the way. That's
what it is all about."