‘Mrs. Mayor’ rests as others guide Funston now

John Oxford

March 26, 2008 10:26 pm

— FUNSTON — For Bettie Chambers, being a part of Funston has encompassed virtually her entire married life.
Chambers said she was born and raised in Moultrie, one of seven children and graduated from Moultrie High School. She got married to Edward S. “Dick” Chambers in 1943, only to have him sent to training then Europe during World War II.
Several months after Dick Chambers returned home from the war, the couple moved to Funston in 1946. Mrs. Chambers said she had wanted to stay in Moultrie, but her husband wanted to return to his home.
“I married a Funston boy,” Chambers said. “I couldn’t get the country out of him.”
It turns out the move was the best thing for the couple and the City of Funston too. Dick Chambers was elected mayor of the small town in 1957 and served 49 years, until his death in December 2006.
In that time, Chambers said she held several positions that served the residents of Funston as well. She went to work as a teller at the C&S Bank, and she also held the position of Funston city clerk from 1966 until 1991. At the age of 50, she retired from the bank in 1973 after 23 years to spend more time with her grandchildren.
The Chambers had two children, Sidney Chambers and Sue Blanton, and she has seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. She never looked back when she retired to be closer to her family.
“I love being a grandmother,” Chambers said. “I don’t regret doing it at all.”
Chambers said she and Dick did a lot to help turn Funston into the town it is today. They helped to install a water system to replace two wells in 1967 using a $22,000 grant and $77,000 loan, which was paid off eight years early.
Funston has also grown in terms of street lights, fire trucks, Christmas decorations and population since the Chambers came into public office, she said. The town grew from about 300 people in the 1970s to an estimated 431 in July 2006.
“Funston is really changing,” Chambers said. “It’s a good little town to be in.”
Unlike most other towns, Chambers said, Funston is also unique in that residents have minimal property taxes. The city council works to help the town without being paid a salary, just as she and Dick did while they were serving. People in Funston still recognize her, often calling her “Mrs. Mayor.”
Aside from her work to help the residents of Funston, Chambers said she and Dick did a lot of traveling. They visited all but three of the United States and spent a month traveling around Europe in 1990. She also is able to do a lot of needlework, crocheting and embroidering.
Chambers said she is proud of the current mayor, Ferrell Ruis, and the work the Funston City Council has done. They are moving the town forward and are doing a good job, she said, even though they may not have known what all had to be done when they first started serving on the council.
“I am proud of the [job] they’re doing,” Chambers said.

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