Elizabeth Frances “Betty” Clay Witt

Elizabeth Frances “Betty” Clay Witt died Wednesday, September 2, 2026 in Lexington, Kentucky. She was born on April 27, 1935 in Paris, Kentucky, the daughter of the late Harry B. and Mildred Underwood Clay. She was a graduate of Bourbon County High School and the University of Kentucky, where she majored in Home Economics. She worked as a home demonstration agent for Columbia Gas. Later in life, she received her certification in early childhood development. She was the founding director of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church Child Care Center in Paris, and later worked as a teacher aide at North Middletown Elementary School.
Betty’s primary vocation, however, was her family. She was a devoted mother to her six children and took great joy in her twelve grandchildren and one great-grandchild. She was proud of her family’s agricultural tradition and throughout her life loved and stewarded Oakland, the farm that has been in her family for six generations. She loved hosting family holidays and gatherings in the house where she grew up.
She was a member of First Presbyterian Church in Paris, where she served as deacon, elder, and Clerk of Session, and was chairman for many years of the Morning Circle. She had a passion for family history and was a member of the Blue Grass Chapter of Colonial Daughters of the Seventeenth Century. She had a wide circle of friends she cherished.
In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by an aunt, Frances Clay Batterton, her stepmother, Josephine Hume Clay Paton, a sister, Lucile Turney Clay Terrell, and a son-in-law, James David Wilson.
She is survived by her six children: Josephine Kneale Witt (Albert) Greenfield, Mary Frances Witt Wilson, Douglass Clay (Sally) Witt, David Clay Witt, Harrison Clay (Amy) Witt, and Norman Clay (Theresa) Witt; twelve grandchildren: Elizabeth Greenfield, Laura (Bobby Carey) Greenfield, Mary Greenfield, Cady Witt, Abby Witt (Ryan) Kalmey, Emily Wilson (Greg) Rosenberg, Clay Wilson, Sam Witt, Otis Witt, McKayla Witt, Jamison Witt, and Kinsley Witt; and one great-grandchild, Bobby Sue Greenfield. She is also survived by two nieces, Laura Terrell (Thomas) Hahn and Lynn Terrell (Jimmy) Humphries, and their children, Sarah, Will, and Stuart Hahn and Ace Humphries.
Visitation will be 5-8 pm Friday, September 11 at Hinton-Turner Funeral Home in Paris. A private graveside funeral service will be held at a later date with the Rev. Sharon Fields officiating. www.hintonturner.com