KAUFMAN, Betty

Betty Kaufman died peacefully at her home on Christmas Day

2021 at age 94, surrounded by her loving family. A native of

Atlanta with deep local roots from the 1800s, she personally witnessed the city’s phenomenal spurt, while her personal tree grew from wife to mother to grandmother and great grandmother. Betty’s colorful mother Pearl Murphy ran her own office supply company in downtown Atlanta when few women worked, much less owned their own business. While working at her mother’s store, Betty met Bud Kaufman, a Lieutenant fresh from WWII whose family had recently moved from New York City, and who had opened a candy store down the block from Murphy’s Office Supply. Bud’s candy store flopped, but his destiny with Betty soared. The newlyweds moved to Roswell Court apartments in Buckhead and met a corps of young couples who became their lifelong friends. Cocktails, dance music, and laughter spilled from apartment to apartment. At the Kaufman’s, the final spin of the record "Delicious" signaled "last call." After son Mike was born, and three years later Kevin, the Kaufmans moved to Sandy Springs, where son Jeff completed the trio. Betty became a devoted

mother, lifelong Democrat, community theater "player", voracious reader, and sideline cheerleader as her boys played sports from pee-wee through college. Once their nest was empty, Betty traveled often with Bud, both for his furniture business and their pleasure. Betty was also a lifelong Braves fan (especially sweet on catcher Javy Lopez) who never missed a game during their 2021 championship run. Betty’s quick smile, natural congeniality, and buoyant sense of humor easily won over strangers and deepened many friendships. She loved to dance. As she became the family matriarch, her moves on the dance floor, especially at her grandchildrens’

weddings, were captured by hundreds of cell phones. After Bud died in 2009, Betty was staunchly independent and her health was robust until a few months before her death. Her survivors include sons Mike (wife Adrienne), Kevin (wife Ivana), and Jeff (wife Cathy, deceased); grandchildren Melanie, Brad, Brent, and Christin, plus Miles and Jackson; and great-grandchildren Lucy, Cooper, and Charlie. Betty’s curse was poor hearing from a freak accident as a 9-year old that left her deaf in one ear. Among her last words: "Wherever I’m going, I’m looking forward to finally hearing."A celebration of her life will be further announced.