Betty Nason Culpepper1

Female, #7108, (11 Apr 1925 - 19 Aug 2006)

ParentDr. Sebron Clifton Culpepper Jr. (17 Mar 1900 - 14 Jun 1986)
ParentLucille Middleton Nason (23 Nov 1899 - 28 Aug 1978)
Betty Nason Culpepper|b. 11 Apr 1925\nd. 19 Aug 2006|p7108.htm|Dr. Sebron Clifton Culpepper Jr.|b. 17 Mar 1900\nd. 14 Jun 1986|p2773.htm|Lucille Middleton Nason|b. 23 Nov 1899\nd. 28 Aug 1978|p7107.htm|Sebron C. Culpepper|b. 9 Apr 1869\nd. Sep 1930|p2341.htm|Elizabeth C. Gaddy|b. 14 Jul 1879\nd. 9 Sep 1949|p2347.htm|James R. Nason|b. say 1869|p37503.htm|Lillian G. Stevens|b. say 1871|p37504.htm|

Name Variation Betty Nason Culpepper was also known as Sage Culpepper. 
Birth*11 Apr 1925 Betty was born at Honolulu, Honolulu Co., Hawaii, on 11 Apr 1925. 
 She was the daughter of Dr. Sebron Clifton Culpepper Jr. and Lucille Middleton Nason. 
(daughter) 1930 Census1 Apr 1930 Betty was listed as a daughter in Dr. Sebron Clifton Culpepper Jr.'s household on the 1930 Census at Honolulu, Honolulu Co., Hawaii.2 
Married Name18 Jun 1947 As of 18 Jun 1947, her married name was Belt. 
Death*19 Aug 2006 She died at Santa Ynes, Santa Barbara Co., California, on 19 Aug 2006.3 
Biography* Obituary:
Betty Culpepper Belt died of pancreatic cancer on August 19, 2006. Born in Honolulu, she always delighted in the Hawaiian Islands. Her high school years were divided between two schools she loved, Punahou School in Hawaii and Gulfport High in Mississippi, where Southern charm was added to her Aloha spirit.

She was at Punahou on December 7th when the U.S. Army took over the school. During a slow convoy evacuation to the States, she adopted the name Sage, used thereafter by everyone except her mother. So it was Sage Culpepper who attended Mills College in Oakland, California, adored the eucalypti, admired the splendid faculty, and became mesmerized with the study of art history. Her pleasing optimistic nature combined with a genuine, unselfish interest in people led to an active social life then and always, yet her serious academic pursuits not only gained her a diploma but also a Phi Beta Kappa key.

Part of that social life was a Navy Corpsman, Bruce Belt, and, following Sage's graduation in 1947, Sage and Bruce were married in Los Angeles. Their first two years together were at Stanford where Sage earned a master's degree in Art History. Sage's thesis was accepted without the alteration of a thought, a word, or a comma.

After nine years in Baltimore, Maryland, where their three children were born, they returned to Los Angeles in 1958. For three decades, Sage made their guests welcome and comfortable with her lively good spirit, kindness, generosity, and genuine, optimistic nature. She organized fund-raising events for Mills; worked with Junior Programs; pursued her interests as a silversmith, potter, and weaver; conducted extensive research into the family's genealogy; expressed her artistic style in home and garden; and indulged her lifelong love of cats. The family enjoyed camping in the desert, along the seashore, and in the Sierras, where Sage took warm eclectic delight in wildflowers, seashells, and rocks.

For almost twenty years, she was a devoted member of the Alliance Board of Directors for the Museum of Natural History in L.A., during which she wrote and published articles on the history of ceramics, botany and medicinal plants, and only resigned with regret when she joined the faculty of Curtis School. There she taught art at first but was soon drafted to organize the school's library and become the first full-time Curtis Librarian.

The couple moved in 1992 to the foothills of idyllic Santa Ynez Valley, California, and into a home designed by their son who also contracted the construction. There Sage's always inquiring mind was intrigued by the study of algae and lichens, and by leaching dye from the petals of her garden's many flowers.

It was in that quiet, lovely setting that Sage died peacefully at home surrounded by her beloved family. She is survived by her husband and by Gregory, Kathryn, and Ann to whom she gave life, joy, and love.
(Names referenced above: Betty Nason Culpepper Betty Nason Culpepper).4 

Family

Dr. Bruce Gregory Belt (living)
Children

Last Edited 22 Oct 2006

Citations

  1. Correspondence from deceased 19 Aug 2006) Betty Nason "Sage" Culpepper Belt (#7108, Santa Ynes, CA, to Lew Griffin, 1999.
  2. 1930 Federal Census, United States.
    ED 2-28, Sheet #2-B, Line 68, 1807 Makiki St., Honolulu, Honolulu, HI  
    Home owned
    Clifton Culpepper, Head, M, 30, M, MS/MS/MS, Doctor, Private Practice
    Lucille Culpepper, Wife, F, 30, M, AL/MS/MS, Not employed
    Betty Culpepper, Dau, F, 4, HI/MS/AL.
  3. E-mail from Jan Belt, e-mail address to Warren Culpepper, Oct 2006.
  4. E-mail from Jan Belt, e-mail address to Warren Culpepper, Oct 2006.
    Sage Culpepper Belt's obituary written by her husband, Dr. Bruce Gregory Belt, with further editing by their daughter, Katy Culpepper Belt.