Mrs. Mary Elizabeth “Bettye” Swingle Bruce, 86, of Zebulon, passed away Oct. 26, 2012. She was born in Hixon, Tenn., to the late Ralph Emerson Swingle and Zelda Ashley Swingle. Mrs. Bruce graduated from Asbury College in Kentucky. For much of her career she taught English at various high schools in the Georgia school system. In her younger years, she enjoyed cooking, China painting and singing in the church choir. She was preceded in death by her husband, a Methodist minister, Rev. Albert William Bruce.

She is survived by her children and their spouses: Ralph Emory “Buster” Bruce of Zebulon, Sandy F. and Don Detar of Dalton, Joy E. and Will Rivers of Nashville, Tenn., and Philip A. and Ginger Bruce of Zebulon. Also surviving are twin sister, Evelyn Avel of Hixon, Tenn.; sister and brother-in-law, Doris and Glenn Hall of Knoxville, Tenn.; grandchildren and their spouses, James and Alisha Bruce, Zachry and Anna Bruce, Stephen Bruce and fianc