Elizabeth Lee Masters

Elizabeth (Betty) Lee Masters, of Salem, peacefully transitioned from this life on Wednesday, June 24, 2015 at her home from complications of cancer. She was 85. Betty was born in New York City on October 8, 1929. The family moved to Salem soon after when her father, Miles Sherman Masters, accepted the position of Classics Professor at Roanoke College. She attended Broad Street Elementary School, where she developed a love for reading and conversation that served her well throughout her life and career. At Andrew Lewis High School, she began receiving formal training in music and singing, perfecting a beautifully tuned soprano voice. She was classically trained in dance, tap, and ballet. Betty was a ballet dancer and soloist performer at the Salem Academy of Music and Roanoke College in the 1940s. For sixty years, she sang in unison and as a soloist for the Salem Baptist Church Choir. During World War II, she assisted her father in photographic dark room work, processing student I.D. cards for pilots training at Roanoke College in identifying enemy planes. She learned the art of photography from her father, whom she later joined as a member of the Salem Camera Club. She received a degree in Fine Arts and Classics from Roanoke College where she developed a lifelong interest in art, music, archaeology, and museums. After a year of teaching, she took a summer job as a photographer for the Roanoke Times & World News, and decided a career in journalism was perfect for her. Her charm, wit, keen intellect and training, allowed her to be accepted on the news scene as a press photographer. For twenty years, her photographs received first place awards in news and sports coverage from the Virginia Press Photographers Awards contests. She served as secretary, and was twice-elected President of the Virginia News Press Photographers Association. Betty was the first woman to be a judge in the White House Press Photographers Annual Contest. She covered news stories throughout Southwest Virginia, from Presidential visits to poverty in Appalachia. Her photographs span the range of news topics, from politics to sports to severe weather. She once noted after Hurricane Hazel in 1955 that "there's nothing to compare with taking action shots of a hurricane!" Throughout her life, she enjoyed family visits to New Mexico and Ohio. In 1961, a trip to visit her sister's family in Germany led to her first tour of the Holy Lands. Over the next twenty years, she helped her father plan trips to the Middle East, Central America, Asia, and Europe for Roanoke College student and alumni tours. She enjoyed visiting the archaeological sites, museums, and sites written about in the Bible. She used those experiences to enrich her lessons as a Sunday School teacher for classes including the Philathea class at Salem Baptist Church for nearly 70 years. She served the church in many ways, and was its first woman deacon. Betty enjoyed Christian fellowship throughout her rich life. During the last year of her illness she received loving support from her family, her extended church family, and personal care nurses. Betty was dedicated to her family, modeling her Christian beliefs through her spirit of sharing, caring, and grand celebrations of Christmas. She was preceded in death by her parents, Miles Sherman Masters and Margaret Aldrich Chamberlain Masters; and brother, Robert Sherman Masters. The surviving members of her extended family are sister, Virginia Masters Leonard (Dan); brother, Miles Husted Masters (Madeline); sister-in-law, Bettie Sue Masters; adoring nieces, nephews and their spouses, Margaret Miles Leonard Clark (Wayne), Chamberlain Ann Masters Miller (Jan), Elizabeth Lynn Leonard Ryan (Patrick), Helen Stuart Masters Durham (Lucian "Buck"), Diane Elizabeth Masters (Mark Iwinski), and Deborah Ann Masters Camitta (Michael). She will also be missed by her great-nieces and nephews, Lucian Archambault Durham IV, Ann Husted Durham McGowan (Lucas), Robert Chamberlain Durham, Ryan Nicholas Miller (Christen), Coleman Barret Miller, Dana Virginia Ryan, Sean Patrick Ryan, Christopher Lane Masters Camitta, Caroline So-Yeong Camitta, and Zoe Genevieve Iwinski Masters. The family will receive friends from 5 to 7:30 p.m. on Friday, June 26, 2015 at the John M. Oakey & Son Funeral Home in Salem. Interment will be private. A memorial service will be conducted at 11 a.m. on Saturday, June 27, 2015 at Salem Baptist Church with the Rev. Everett Kier and the Rev. Tom Clark officiating. There will be a time of fellowship in the social hall immediately following the service. The family suggests memorial tributes take the form of contributions to the general fund of Salem Baptist Church at 103 N. Broad Street in Salem, Va. 24153. For online condolences please visit www.johnmoakey.com. The Masters family is being served by John M. Oakey & Son Funeral Home in Salem, 540-389-5441.First Visitation

Friday, June 26th, 2015 5:00pm - 7:30pm,

John M. Oakey & Son Chapel

305 Roanoke Blvd Salem, VA 24153

Service Information

Saturday, June 27th, 2015 11:00am,

Salem Baptist Church

103 N. Broad St. Salem, VA 24153

Interment Location

Sherwood Memorial Park

1250 East Main St Salem, VA 24153