Mary Elizabeth “Betsy” Mason Carnwath, beloved wife of the late Samuel Wallace “Chip” Carnwath Jr., entered into rest on May 11, 2026, in Charleston, South Carolina, peacefully with her son at her side. Betsy was born on October 13, 1948, in Augusta, Georgia, to Wilson Perry “Bill” Mason and Elizabeth Lamar Dudley Mason. She grew up in Augusta as the middle of three sisters, alongside Sada Mason Huggins and Martha Mason Gibson, whom she loved dearly. She attended William Robinson Elementary School and graduated from The Academy of Richmond County. Betsy treasured her Augusta upbringing, especially the lifelong friendships she formed, some beginning in her very early childhood on Hickman Road and lasting throughout her life.

She later attended and graduated from St. Mary’s College in Raleigh, North Carolina, before returned home to continue her studies at Augusta College, now Augusta University. After graduating, Betsy taught elementary school in Augusta and appreciated the opportunity to make an impact on her young students’ lives. One summer, she visited two of her childhood best friends in San Francisco, California. The following year, she moved there, living in a house full of young women from Augusta, working at Henry Africa’s, a saloon credit as the first of the fern bars, and later becoming a flight attendant for World Airways alongside her closest friends. Over the next five years, she traveled the globe with World Airways — from flying musicians and athletes to events such as Zaire 74 and the “Rumble in the Jungle,” to evacuating children from South Vietnam as part of Operation Babylift to meeting the Maasai Tribe in Kenya. Betsy cherished those adventures and continued sharing her tales with old and new friends for years thereafter. Meanwhile, her sisters were marrying and starting families back in Augusta and abroad. Betsy visited often as the “cool aunt,” forming close bonds with her nieces and nephews, whom she loved as her own.

Betsy and Chip were married by The Rev. Allen Boykin Clarkson on January 24, 1978, at the Church of the Good Shephard. Betsy and Chip’s love was palpable, powerful and infectious from the time they met and every day thereafter. Betsy and Chip began their marriage in Grosse Point, Michigan before moving to Lansing, Michigan, where they enjoyed playing tennis when the ice thawed. They were crowned club doubles champions for 2 years running.

Before moving back South, Betsy and Chip welcomed their son, Samuel Wallace Carnwath III, on May 29, 1980. They spent most of the next thirty years in Atlanta, Georgia, with a brief stretch on Sanibel Island, Florida in between. Betsy was a dedicated and enthusiastic mother who cherished that role. Betsy was Wallace’s most devoted fan at lacrosse and football games, fiercest advocate, most patient tutor, strongest motivator and at times, his most honest critic. Wallace loved his mother more than the world, but tested her with a rebellious, independent, headstrong, and stubborn spirit he no doubt inherited from her.

As Wallace transitioned to college in New York, Betsy could no longer attend all his lacrosse games, though she followed the team to Florida for their Spring tournaments. When Wallace moved to Colorado and then began law school, she saw the fruits of her labor take shape and prosper. Betsy was content and so proud. With more time on her hands, Betsy began substitute teaching at the Atlanta Speech School, where she worked with children with learning disabilities. She also invested in and celebrated her lifelong friends with annual girls’ trips. She reengaged with The National Society of the Colonial Dames, The Atlanta Historical Society and returned to her favorite hobby — needlepoint. Most of all, she enjoyed more time with Chip, who was ending a thirty-three-year career with IBM. She enjoyed the newfound freedom to travel with Chip, including annual trips to Mexico, where of course, Betsy developed a lasting friendship with The Commodores — yes, those Commodores.

Betsy faced a sudden and difficult challenge when her beloved husband Chip entered into rest on November 21, 2008. She leaned on her family and close friends as she gracefully and courageously re-built her life over the years to come. In 2019, during COVID, Betsy joined Wallace and his fiancé, Megan Howard, in Charleston, South Carolina, where she became friends with every neighbor on the block within weeks, ultimately securing invites to all the block parties — even allowing Wallace and Megan to join as tagalongs. She ultimately stayed in Charleston, falling in love with the Low Country, finding a closeness with Wallace that had been impossible for far too long and excited about the adventures their proximity would allow. Betsy and Wallace cherished their time in Charleston, even as their roles gently shifted and Wallace took over as advocate, planner, transporter and caregiver — perhaps beginning to repay the tab he ran up throughout his youth. Just last week, the two snuck away to stalk tarpon and reds on the fly in the tidal ponds of Daniel Island. Though their bag remained empty as dusk closed in, they nevertheless celebrated with Baskin & Robbins on the way home, knowing the joy they had just bagged.

Betsy lived a full, vibrant, and enthusiastic life, filled with countless adventures held together with one common theme — Betsy loved her family and friends unselfishly, unconditionally, wholeheartedly and without reservation. Betsy was fiercely loyal, deeply kind, with a remarkable gift for connecting with both friends and strangers, becoming a trusted confidante and dear friend to many.

Betsy was preceded in death by her parents, her brother-in-law, Charles Thomas “Tom” Huggin, her niece, Stephanie Stamper Huggins, and her devoted husband, Chip Carnwath. Betsy is survived by her son, Wallace, and his fiancé, Megan Howard, of Charleston, South Carolina; her sisters, Sada Huggins and Martha Gibson (John); her nieces and nephews: Charles Huggins (Beth), Elizabeth Elliott (Brandon), and Will Huggins, Brooke Gibson, Christopher Gibson, Cary Gibson (Ines), and Sarah Gibson; her great-nieces and great-nephews, their spouses and their new babies, all of whom are too many to list individually, but loved by Betsy as her very own; and, her dearest friends: Anna Dunbar Vallotton, Mary Hull Frazier, Libba Anderson, Janna McDonald, Sally Wade Ellerbee, Jan Stuntz, Helen Hendee, Greer Brannon, Mariam Brown, the Hon. Frank Mays Hull, Dabney Byrd, Cecilia Pittman, Cathy MacWatter Smith, Genie Johannsen, Louise Fitzgerald, Beth Thomason, and most longstanding – Hilly Kilpatrick Kenney (since November 1948).

A funeral service will be held at The Church of the Good Shepherd, at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, May 20, 2026. The Reverend Dr. Talmadge A. “Joe” Bowden and the Reverend Dr. Bunny Simon Williams will officiate. Burial will be at Summerville Cemetery. Following the service, the family will then receive friends at the Parish Hall, the Church of the Good Shepherd. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the American Heart Association, The Alzheimer’s Foundation of America or The Church of the Good Shepherd, 2230 Walton Way, Augusta, Georgia, 30904. The family wishes to express their heartfelt thanks to Betsy’s many caregivers, especially Nurse Tonya Johnson and Leversa for their friendship, care and compassion; Dr. Valerie Scott for her coordination of care and primary care; and, Dr. Lagare, Dr. Lagares-Garcia, Dr. Beldner and Dr. Morrison for their specialized, surgical and emergent care in her times of greatest need.

Thomas Poteet & Son Funeral Directors, 214 Davis Rd., Augusta, GA 30907 (706) 364-8484. Please sign the guestbook at www.thomaspoteet.com