Betty Reeder Dillon

Dr. Betty Reeder Dillon, a resident of Humacao, Puerto Rico and formerly of Luverne, Alabama, passed away on Tuesday, September 26, 2023, in her Palmas del Mar home from complications of dementia.  A celebration of Betty’s life will be held at 2PM on Thursday, November 2nd, at the Luverne Methodist Church.

Betty was born to Owen W. and Mary Pace Reeder, owners and operators of the Luverne Journal for many years.  She was a proud member of the Luverne High School Class of 1969 and enjoyed time spent on the cheerleading squad, at the pool in the summer and treasured trips to Panama City Beach with friends.  She always carried a lot of love for her hometown and highly recommended Luverne and south Alabama to acquaintances and friends in the places she lived and visited.  Betty received a BS in Nursing at UAB, a master’s in Nursing at Troy State University, and a PhD in Women's Health from UAB, where she also graduated with the second class of Nurse Practitioners.  While working on her advanced degrees, Betty did Private Duty Nursing for such notables as George Wallace, taught nursing in Montgomery at AUM and Troy State and had her own GYN Private Practice.  Her outstanding capabilities and professionalism did not go unnoticed as she garnered numerous accolades including Alabama Nurse of the Year!

Betty's father flew B-17s during the Second World War and her brother, Bill, served during Vietnam.  At 35, she joined the Alabama Army National Guard where she worked weekends in Montgomery and Birmingham and had summer assignments in Japan, Italy, Belgium and Panama.  After 20 years in the Guard, she went on to active duty.  While serving as Mobilization Officer for the 332nd Medical in Nashville, she took courses and graduated from the Naval War College.  Her second duty station was Fort Carson in Colorado Springs where she was Commanding Officer of a Warrior Transition Unit dealing with physically and mentally injured soldiers and rape victims.  She retired from military duty as a Lieutenant Colonel in November 2010 but stayed on at Ft. Carson as a DOD contractor to initiate and install an embedded Psych Unit within the 4th Infantry Division as a pilot program for all infantry divisions.

Betty continued to take an active role in the military after her retirement.  In July 2011, she accepted the position of Women Veteran Program Manager for the Southern Arizona VA Health Care System.  While the VA Hospital is in Tucson, there are clinics from Yuma on the California border to the border with New Mexico.  She organized and supervised all Women Veteran programs system wide.  Her heart still belonged in the South and when called to consider a transfer to the Northern Gulf Coast VA, she accepted the same position for Biloxi-Pensacola and retired from there January 31, 2018.

Betty was gifted with extraordinary charisma that made her a favorite everywhere she went, from her class at Luverne to college, the military, and as a professor. She also firmly believed in the phrase: work hard, play hard! She relished her military experience and felt honored to continue to work to make life better for veterans even after leaving the service. She was also the life of the party wherever she went, which made her a fantastic hostess. Regardless of where or when a gathering happened, if Betty was there, you knew a good time was going to be had by all. She was proud to be a true Southern lady and always epitomized grace and dignity with a little bit of Southern sass for good measure! All of her family and friends enjoyed her great sense of humor and treasured every moment they were able to spend together over the years. She was one of a kind and an irreplaceable part of both her family and her community. They’ll never be able to thank her enough for all that she did for her country, veterans, and especially the patients she cared for so deeply. Words cannot express how much she will be sorely missed by all those who knew and loved her, but she has left behind an incredible legacy that will live on for many more years to come.

Betty is survived by her beloved husband, John Dillon of Humacao, Puerto Rico; son, Brett in Pensacola; stepsons, Jack in Savannah, Georgia and Tyler in Toronto, Canada; five grandchildren; her brother, Bill Reeder of Eureka Springs, Arkansas; a host of nieces, nephews, extended family members, and dear friends.