Betty Potter, the beloved owner of one of Yazoo City’s most popular and well-remembered stores, died Tuesday at the age of 74 at her home.
But the love of her family and friends, the spirit she embodied and the quick wit of a hard-working business woman will remain for years to come.
She loved her family and gave back to her community, owning C and B Quick Stop for two decades. Her favorite color was pink, and she was an expert at penny slots. She wore White Diamonds perfume and read Harlequin novels. She was quick to share a laugh, but could be a boss when she needed to be. She was Mrs. Betty, and she had one heck of a story.
“She was loving, and she loved her family,” said Kathy Walker, her sister. “And she was a survivor. She could handle any adversity, taking it day by day.”
Betty was born on March 1, 1943 to Wilson and Lessie Saxton. She was the sixth of eleven children.
Her first battle in life was her diagnosis with polio as a child. Her son Claude Potter said it was a condition that she struggled with daily.
“It always affected her,” he said. “But she fought it every day.”
But even a crippling disease like polio couldn’t wipe out her spirit. Her brother Robbie Saxton was a witness to that as a child.
“I was about seven years old, and she would have been about ten,” Robbie said. “All of us kids were left at the house, and Betty was in charge because she was the oldest.”
Due to polio, Betty was restricted to using crutches as she watched out for her younger siblings.
“I had the idea that I was going to be the boss,” Robbie said, with a smile. “Little did I know, she had a sugar cane stalk hidden behind her bed. She took after me so hard the juice was coming out of that stalk. I wasn’t the boss no more after that.”
Betty owned and operated C and B Quick Stop on Highway 49 for 20 years. She retired in 2002, selling the business.
But that store left its mark in Yazoo history.
“That store was a symbol of family,” Claude said. “It was more than a store. It was where our family gathered and talked for hours. It was where you knew customers by their names. It was like family, all the time.”
And it was where the majority of Yazoo came to get a hot plate of Betty’s meals, prepared every Tuesday and Thursday.
“When I was at Benton Academy, a teacher would give me permission to leave school at lunch to go t town and get a plate from my grandmother’s store,” said Chris Manasco.
“She not only cooked for her family, she would cook for the homeless,” Claude added. “She helped the community. And she would sell over 100 plates every Tuesday and Thursday.”
Her signature dish was roast beef and gravy with cheese spaghetti, butter beans, mashed potatoes, coleslaw, homemade biscuits and sweet tea.
“If you didn’t get a plate, you missed out,” Claude said.
And don’t forget her New Orleans-style po’boy.
“I’ve never seen one like her since,” said Bubba Saxton, her nephew.
C and B Quick Stop was where shoppers were treated like family. Laughter echoed through its walls. Meals were prepared with love. And a community caught a glimpse into Betty’s passion.
“She didn’t run it like a BP gas station,” Claude said. “It was a family environment where you held conversations. She touched a lot of people’s lives there. It was more than just a store. It was a symbol.”
Cooking and eating with her family was what Betty enjoyed doing the most.
“She would call us every Thanksgiving and Christmas,” Chris said. “She would tell us to put our order in, and she would make it.”
“There was always plenty to go around,” added Debbie Hester, her daughter.
But it was always more than just food as the family would gather around a 15-foot long table at meals.
“When she was cooking, she put her heart into it,” Chris said. “She knew it would bring us all together. If she loved you, you knew she loved you.”
Betty will be buried in the Saxton family cemetery on Davis Road.
“In the middle of everybody so she can boss them all around,” Robbie said, with a laugh.
And as the memories and stories continue to float around the room of her home, her family is doing just what we would want them to be doing. They are together, surrounded by love and laughter mixed with a few tears.
She was Mrs. Betty, a loving woman who could win any fight. She was a giver of food and spirit.
And yes, she was the boss.
