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Obituary

Woman opened home to children

Betty Poston touched the lives of many as a foster parent. Her actions will be remembered at her funeral today. She was 79.

By MARTY CLEAR
Published March 3, 2006

ELIZABETH "BETTY' POSTON, 1926-2006

HISTORIC HYDE PARK - Over the years, more than 100 children called Betty Poston's house their home.

From the early 1960s until the mid 1980s, Mrs. Poston served as the foster mother to scores of infants, teenagers and even a mentally challenged adult. Some stayed for weeks, some stayed for years.

"It was great," said Adella King, one of Mrs. Poston's three biological children. "Everyone had their household duties and we all got along. It was just like one big family."

Mrs. Poston touched all of their lives, and most of the foster children never forgot her. Even in adulthood, many stayed in touch.

Several of them will serve as pallbearers at her funeral this morning. Mrs. Poston died Feb. 26 of pneumonia and congestive heart failure. She was 79.

She lived in the same house on Dekle Avenue ever since she moved here from Maryland with her husband, Nick, in 1952.

They were a fairly typical family. Nick Poston was a salesman for a bottling company and worked for a linen supply company. Mrs. Poston worked at a bakery and then became a homemaker and full-time mother to their son and two daughters.

Mrs. Poston was always full of energy, so much that her children would try to get her to relax.

"She could work harder than anybody you ever saw," King said. "We were always saying, "Mom, slow down. Mom, slow down.' But she just couldn't."

She loved to cook and no one ever left the Poston house hungry, or even half-full.

"She was Italian and she loved food," her daughter said. "If you came to our house you had to eat, even if you had just eaten two minutes before. That was the rule."

The family's life changed forever about 1960. Mrs. Poston read a newspaper article about foster parenthood and decided to look into it. A visit to local children's home persuaded her.

"A little black-haired girl came up to her and hugged her and said, "Are you going to be my new mommy?' and that was it," King said.

Mrs. Poston's first foster child was a boy who stayed with the family from elementary school through high school graduation. He was killed in a motorcycle accident soon thereafter, and the Postons had him buried in their family plot.

Many more came and went over the next 25 years. At any given time, the Postons had 10 or 12 foster children, in addition to their own children.

Mrs. Poston made sure that each of them felt like an essential part of the family.

"She gave each of them a household duty, depending on their age and ability," King said. "Some would just have to pick up their own clothes. It was just something to make them feel they were valuable."

Since most of the children came from fairly deprived backgrounds, they often arrived with requests for candy and other sweets. At first, Mrs. Poston would allow them to have as much as they wanted. Later, once the kids realized sweets were not in short supply, they stopped asking for them, except after dinner.

The Postons were never rich, but Mrs. Poston was an expert at shopping for bargains and for value. She received a stipend for each child, but it never amounted to the cost of raising a child, King said.

Mrs. Poston's funeral is scheduled for 10 a.m. today at Blount & Curry Funeral Home, 605 S MacDill Ave. A graveside service will follow at Garden of Memories.

Mrs. Poston is survived by her three children, Adella King, Barbara Bedell and Joseph Poston, seven grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. She is preceded in death by her husband.

[Last modified March 2, 2006, 13:56:08]