Family was a sacred joy to the Rev. Betty J. Postell

It was an idyllic childhood for the children of Keyveat and Betty J. Postell.

"We went everywhere," recalled their daughter, Tanya Postell Lone. "Picnics, swimming, amusement parks, bowling. Mom was the coordinator of all our family outings."

The Rev. Betty J. Postell, associate minister of Mount Pisgah African Methodist Episcopal Church and a dental hygienist who often held down more than one job to help support the family, died Thursday. She was 76 and lived in Wynnefield.

Betty actually grew up in Mount Pisgah AME Church. A member since childhood, she served on the Women's Missionary Society, was past chairwoman of the Gaskins Hopkins Pride Scholarship, was a church-school teacher and choir mother of the Excelsior Choir.

She became an ordained minister in the 1980s.

Betty was devoted to her family and enjoyed taking them places and filling them up with her and her husband's cooking.

She was an excellent cook, but often deferred to her husband, a skilled baker whose made-from-scratch biscuits were prized by family and friends. He died last New Year's Eve.

Betty was born in Philadelphia, one of the eight children of Walter Arnold Sr. and Ella Baptiste Arnold. She graduated from West Philadelphia High School.

She worked as a dental hygienist for two Philadelphia dentists and for a dental supply company.

Betty and her husband were passionate travelers. They visited many European countries as well as Hawaii, Africa and Australia and took cruises in the Caribbean.

Her favorite hymn was "O Thou, In Whose Presence My Soul Takes Delight."

Betty loved to swim, and swam just about everywhere there was water, from the Kelly Pool in Fairmount Park to the South Jersey shore.

She was former vice president of the Wynnefield Residence Association, and was a member of Women Aglow, an international organization of Christian women who perform many services for the needy of their communities.

Betty was famous for her stylish attire and her hats. She wouldn't leave the house if she wasn't stylishly turned out, her daughter said.

Besides her daughter, she is survived by a son, Keyveat Postell Jr.; three stepchildren, Betty Postell Savage, K. Marvin Postell and Russell Postell; a brother, Ronald Arnold; 20 grandchildren, and three great-grandchildeen.

Services: 11 a.m. tomorrow at Mount Pisgah AME Church, 428 N. 41st St. Friends may call at 9 a.m. Burial will be in Rolling Green Memorial Park, West Chester. *