Retired TAB columnist Betty Baggott dies at 91

Betty Baggott, a retired columnist for The Alabama Baptist, died March 29. She was 91.

For 18 years beginning in 1988, Baggott wrote her Heart to Heart column about people, events in her life and current issues in ways that touched the hearts of readers everywhere. Countless letters testified to how people identified with her experiences and were touched by her words. She retired from writing her column in 2006. She also served on the board of directors for TAB from 1988 to 1997.

A native of Augusta, Georgia, Baggott attended the Junior College of Augusta (now part of part of Augusta University) and continued her education at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, and Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas.

For years, she served alongside her husband, Bob, as he served on the staff of churches in Florida and Georgia and then of several Alabama churches — FBC Opelika; FBC Dothan; FBC Birmingham; and Farmville Baptist Church in Auburn. She also supported his 20-year chaplaincy position with Auburn University, and together they launched the college ministry at First Baptist Church Opelika, which drew hundreds of students each week.

After her husband’s death in 2000, Baggott moved from Opelika to Montgomery, where she served in a variety of ways at Eastern Hills Baptist Church until moving to Minnesota in 2019.

Baggott is preceded in death by her husband, Robert Taylor Jr., and son, Jack Allen. She is survived by her son, Robert III; daughters, Cheryl and Autumn; five grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.