ROCK HILL, S.C. (CN2 NEWS) – Just 12 days shy of her 92nd Birthday, former Mayor Betty Jo Rhea has passed away.
Current RH Mayor John Gettys says she and her team absolutely changed the trajectory of our city. She was ahead of her time and had a vision. While you could say she was a last of her kind, he says “it’s more appropriate to say she was the first of a kind, she changed Rock Hill forever”. More on CN2 from the Mayor on this Monday night at 6.
Ms. Rhea became Rock Hill’s 1st female, and still only female Mayor in 1986. She served the city for 12 years. As noted on her 90th birthday, Ms. Rhea hosted the City Minute talk show discussing Rock Hill’s past while providing a peak into the city’s future. Click here for Interview
Ms Rhea is survived by her 3 children 3 grandchildren and an abundance of great-grandchildren.
Please click here for City Minute with Fred Faircloth
Here is her obituary:
Elizabeth Josephine (Betty Jo) Rhea, 91, a former mayor of Rock Hill and lifelong resident of the city, died on June 6, 2022, following a brief illness. Mrs. Rhea was preceded in death by her parents and her husband. She will be remembered for her outstanding civic leadership, for breaking barriers for women in Rock Hill and across South Carolina, and for the immeasurable impact she had on the lives of family members, friends, constituents, and colleagues.
Mrs. Rhea was born on June 18, 1930, to Dr. and Mrs. James Otho Dunlap. She graduated from St. Genevieve’s in Asheville, NC, and went on to study at Barry College in Miami, FL, and Winthrop University. She wed James Copeland (Jimmie) Rhea Jr., the love of her life, on June 24, 1950. Over 57 years of marriage, they raised three children, traveled around the world, and committed themselves unwaveringly to the Rock Hill community.
Mrs. Rhea was appointed to the Parks and Recreation Commission in 1971. She served on the commission for nine years, including three as chair. In 1978, she ran for City Council against eight other candidates and won, becoming one of the first women to hold a council seat. In 1986, she ran for the city’s top job and won, becoming Rock Hill’s first female mayor. She remained in that role until her retirement in 1998.
Mrs. Rhea took office at a difficult moment for Rock Hill: Several textile mills had closed, and unemployment was approaching 18 percent. Among her proudest accomplishments as mayor were the revitalization and diversification of the city’s economy under the banner of a long-term strategic plan called “Empowering the Vision,” which emphasized development across several sectors, including business, arts and culture, education, gardens and the environment, historic preservation, and utilities and transportation. In 1989, Mrs. Rhea established the city’s Board of Historic Review to protect the city’s structural heritage. In 1992, thanks to the work of her administration, and the U.S. Conference of Mayors—on whose Board of Trustees Mrs. Rhea once sat—named Rock Hill one of the most livable small cities in America. Mrs. Rhea played an integral part in bringing two pieces of heroic civic sculpture to Rock Hill: Civitas, which earned a design award from the National Endowment for the Arts, and Mighty Casey, which stands in Cherry Park, now a major hub of sports initiatives that has brought the city national acclaim.
In her memoir, I’m Not at Liberty to Say, published in 2020, Mrs. Rhea wrote, “I can categorically say I never had a dull moment during my 12 years as mayor.” She enjoyed speaking in schools and encouraging young people to get involved in their community. She was a fixture in Rock Hill’s “Johnsonville July 4th Parade”, dressing up as the Statue of Liberty every year, sometimes with an adult beverage tucked inside her silver torch. “The Mayor” was never without her signature fashion statement, a colorful scarf that she wore daily. Over the years she had been given and/or collected scarves from all over the world.
After her retirement, true to form, Mrs. Rhea did not rest. Among other endeavors, she served on the board of South Carolina Humanities; assisted in planning Rock Hill’s sesquicentennial celebration; participated in the Merry Pranksters, a theater troupe; and began hosting her own television show, City Minute. When she was not working, she could be found reading a good book, listening to classical music, enjoying lunch with friends at the Ebenezer Grill, watching Clemson football, or spending time with family and friends, preferably at her favorite vacation spot, South Carolina’s Litchfield Beach.
Among the numerous accolades she received in her life, Mrs. Rhea was a recipient of South Carolina’s Order of the Palmetto, the Governor’s Award in the Humanities, American Legion Distinguished Service Award, Municipal Association of South Carolina’s Alison E. Farlow Award, Rotary International’s Paul Harris Fellow and an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree at Winthrop. She served on the boards of the National League of Cities, South Carolina Museum, and was former President of the Municipal Association of South Carolina. She was a charter member of the Debutante Club of Rock Hill and former President of the Junior Welfare League. She concluded her memoir with a list of her “hopes for the future,” most of all this: “We need to keep people here. We have done so much to make Rock Hill a good place to live, to raise and educate our families. It’s important we continue to move with the times, making decisions with the big picture in mind.”
Mrs. Rhea was an active and longtime member of the Episcopal Church of Our Saviour in Rock Hill, SC.
Mrs. Rhea’s family will miss her profoundly. She is survived by her children James Copeland (Toy) Rhea III and his wife, Grazier, of Rock Hill; Catherine Rhea Darby and her husband, Leonard, of Greenville, NC; and John Dunlap Rhea and his wife, May, of Fairview, NC. She leaves behind granddaughter Evelyn Rhea Knight, her husband, Darren, and their children, McClain, Connors, and Clara Gray, of Columbia, SC; grandson James Copeland Rhea IV, his wife, Lauren, and their children, James V and Grant, of Houston, TX.; and granddaughter Seyward Darby and her husband, Corey Sobel, of Brooklyn, NY. Mrs. Rhea is also survived by her siblings Nancy Mahaffey of Rock Hill; Tena Braswell and her husband, Steve, of Savannah, GA; and James O. Dunlap, Jr and his wife, Jean of Tampa, FL.
The family would like to thank the staff at Westminster Towers and Riverview Hospice and Palliative Care for their kind and passionate support and caring.
*Photo Courtesy of SCETV
