Betty Ann Nicholson

Betty Anne Nicholson Breit Barker, passed away on June 7, 2008, at the home of her daughter in Prairie Grove, Arkansas, following a lengthy illness with Alzheimer’s disease. She was born March 6, 1921 in Harrison, Arkansas, daughter of the late Mittie Burns and Roy D. Nicholson. She was preceded in death by her husbands, Dr. William Breit of Harrison and Dr. N.L. Barker of Paris, Texas. She is survived by her three children, Barbara and her husband Pete Maris of Little Rock, Arkansas, Beth and her husband Mike Green of Prairie Grove, Arkansas, Bob Breit and step-son Bill Barker of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, grandchildren, Anne Alford and husband Brad, of San Marino, California, Amy Bain and husband Andrew, and Michael ”Blu” Green and Meredith Clayton of Prairie Grove, Arkansas, Melissa Sims of Harrison, Arkansas, Mary Pinkerton and husband Michael of Lincoln, Arkansas, Lee Maris and wife Kristin, and Christopher Maris and wife Elizabeth of Little Rock, and twelve great-grandchildren, Natalie and Mary Elizabeth Alford, Isabella and Gabriella Bain, Mary Kathryn and Jared Bryant, Ava Pinkerton, Christopher, Whitt and John Maris, Mary Cooper and Lee Maris III. She is also survived by her sister-in-law Virginia Riggs and her husband McKay of Fayetteville, Arkansas.

After graduating from Harrison High School and Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas, Betty worked in Little Rock where she met and married her husband Bill Breit. After he completed his service in WWII they returned to her home of Harrison, Arkansas, where she continued to live off and on for the majority of her life. She helped her husband as he began his medical practice, and throughout her life in Harrison, Betty was active in many community organizations. She was a member of the Boone County Medical Auxiliary, the Women’s Book Club, Twentieth Century Club, Harrison Garden Club, and numerous bridge groups. She was a life long member of the First Presbyterian Church of Harrison. She always loved the ladies retail fashion business. She often traveled to Little Rock to work with her friends at the Clothes Horse, and began and owned Country Classics in Harrison.

After the death of Dr. Breit she married Dr. Nym Barker and lived in his home of Paris, Texas.

After his death, she lived briefly in Little Rock and then returned to Harrison and entered new careers, as Carlisle Clothing representative, and in real estate, working for Coldwell Bankers. Her last years were spent in Prairie Grove, AR to be near her daughter Beth Green and family.

The family would like to give special thanks to her loving care givers, Dorothy Cardenas, Ada Romer, and Glenda Tollett, and to the staff at Peachtree Retirement Center in Farmington, Arkansas.