Sheldon Ralph Betterly

Sheldon Ralph Betterly was born December 1st, 1932, in Huntington, Indiana to Reverend Glen Clifford Betterly and his wife Lillian May (Latsch) Betterly. He was the third of four children, and the second son, born to Glen, age 30 and Lillian, age 34. When Sheldon was 2 years old, the family moved with Glen to pastor churches in Ontario, Canada. The rest of his childhood was spent there where he developed a love for hunting, fishing, and animals. In 1951, upon his graduation from high school in Port Elgin, Ontario, he moved back to Indiana to attend Huntington College, where he met his future wife, Peggy. Two years later, he joined the US Army where he spent most of 1953 stationed in Michigan, Virginia, Texas, and Maryland, before being shipped overseas to Japan at the end of the Korean War in 1954. It was in the fall before his departure that he and Peggy became engaged. He and his brother Don, served in active duty as conscientious objectors, until he returned to Indiana at the end of 1954. When he returned to the states he worked at a machine shop until he and Peggy were married on April 2, 1955. The long and happy marriage that Sheldon and Peggy shared began in West Lafayette, Indiana where they lived while Sheldon attended Purdue University, where he earned his Bachelor’s degree in Agronomy. Upon his graduation in 1959, Sheldon accepted the role of Golf Course Superintendent for the course that he would build into Chantilly National Golf and Country Club in Virginia. In 1961, he founded Centreville Sod Growers which he owned and operated for 37 years and would later pass on to his son, Craig. In 1968, the family built a house and moved to Nokesville as he made Centreville Sod his full time business. He worked towards creating higher standards for turfgrass and was the first sod producer to ever grow certified sod in the state of Virginia. After decades of service to the Virginia Turfgrass Council he was awarded Lifetime Membership, and served as the council’s president in 1968-69. He received the RD Cake Silver Tray Memorial Award in 1964, and the President’s Award in 1984. He was a President and charter member of the Greater Washington Golf Course Superintendents Association, as well as the Virginia Sod Growers, from which he later received a Lifetime Achievement Award. He was a charter member of ASPA (Turfgrass Producers International). Sheldon was a member of the Centreville Methodist Church for 9 years during his time as Superintendent and was on multiple boards and committees. Upon moving to Nokesville he and Peggy became active members of the Nokesville Church of the Brethren family and community. Along with his many great accomplishments, some things Sheldon will be most fondly remembered by among his family include: camping with friends and family, traveling around Virginia, and throughout the rest of the U.S. Sheldon was known for “never meeting as stranger” and taking genuine interest in the lives and interests of others no matter where he was. He was probably happiest with a cutting torch in one hand and a welder in the other. Passing on his hard work ethic, his machinery inventions, the way old junk could always be still useful, his love of horses, dogs, kitty cats, and baby pigs, singing just the first line of every song and making up the rest, his love of his farm, rocking babies to sleep with his resonating singing voice. Taking four of his grandsons bravely, alone to Carlisle, PA to enjoy Redskins Training Camp. Pancake breakfasts at church with his grandkids before Nokesville Day, watching them in the pool and always enjoying their antics. Sheldon is preceded in death by: his parents; his sisters Shirley (Betterly) Cox and her husband Emmett Cox, Dorothy Ann (Betterly) Tripp; and his infant son. Sheldon’s living legacy can be seen in the love of those by whom he is survived: his brother Donald Maurice Betterly, and wife Barbara Betterly of Indiana, and brother in-law Herb Tripp; his wife of 69 years, Peggy Jo (Clouse) Betterly; his son Craig Alan Betterly and his wife, Cynthia (Lomax) Betterly, daughter Sue Ellen (Betterly) Burleson and her husband, Ronald Burleson, daughter Joann Kay (Betterly) Nicholls and her husband, Kevin Nicholls; his grandchildren Philip Mark Betterly and his wife, Tricia (Swider) Betterly, Stephanie Leigh (Bates) Kopf and her husband, Jarad Kopf, Sarah Ann (Burleson) Gower and her husband, Matthew Gower, Thomas Albert Burleson and his wife, Elizabeth (Brown) Burleson, Scott Anthony Betterly, Daniel Travis Bates and his wife, Joamarie (Garcia) Bates, Alexander Ryan Bates, Rachel Neva Bates, and Matthew Minkyoo Nicholls; and his great grandchildren Sarah Elizabeth Gower, Melanie Mae Gower, Natalie Jane Kopf, James Hampton Gower, Leila Josephine Kopf, Sylvie Joann Kopf, Julia Carter Burleson, and Clare Anelle Burleson. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you consider a donation to the Nokesville Church of the Brethren. Funeral services will be held at Nokesville Church of the Brethren, 13002 Fitzwater Drive, Nokesville, VA on Saturday, February 1, 2025 at 11:00 AM with the family receiving friends from 9:30 AM until service time. A reception will be held in the church fellowship hall after the service.

Sheldon Ralph Betterly

December 1, 1932 - January 24, 2025