Bethsheba Young was one of thirteen children born to Gratnie Minor Smith and Magdalene ("Maggie") Smith on December 1, 1925. She entered this world in the family homestead in Claremont, Virginia-just twelve miles from Jamestown, Virginia. Except for a brief while when the family lived in Hopewell, Virginia, Bethsheba spent the first twelve and a half years of her life in this small, tightly-knit, rural community. Among her most pleasant memories of these years was participating in a chorus of Black schoolchildren who sang Negro spirituals and American folk classics for a yearly garden show in the town. This experience along with her father's gardening skills contributed to her love of singing and later cultivation of the beautiful plants and flowers for which she was known. She loved keeping an attractive home landscape. 

Bethsheba also respected and appreciated the elementary school education she received in Claremont's segregated, one-room schoolhouse where the teachers were strict but excellent. She was proud of the fact that when the family moved to New York and she and her siblings were tested for grade placement, they were found to be on equal par with their northern peers, not needing to repeat grades-something that was very unusual for African American children who migrated to the North at that time. 

After the Smiths moved to Harlem in 1938, Bethsheba attended Wadleigh Jr. High School and Wadleigh High School, all-girls schools located on 114th Street. Her fondest memory of her teen years was as a member of the youth choir of the Radio Church of God in Harlem. She considered it an honor that she was permitted to sing simultaneously on the adult choir there as well-a privilege extended only to the most exemplary young people. Beth graduated in 1944 and gained employment in a factory that made C-rations (canned food) for American soldiers fighting overseas during World War II. 

Bethsheba was always a homebody. She loved sticking close to her parents. When they relocated to the Catskill Mountains permanently in the late 1940s and operated a lodging house there, she lived with them and helped out with the related family businesses. In fact, it was through one of those businesses, her father's barber shop, that she met the young man from High Point, North Carolina who would become her future husband, Frank Young. They were married on June 6, 1953. From this union, six children were born. 

Bethsheba was a devoted housewife, homemaker, and mother-giving her all to her children who she readily proclaimed were her life's pride and joy. She regularly attended PTA meetings, and school symphonic band concerts, plays, and musicals involving her kids. She assisted with science projects and cheered her sons as members of the school's winning basketball team. She was so outstanding at these activities that she received the first and only Parent of the Year Award from Fallsburg Central High School in 1978. 

From her childhood, Bethsheba had a deep love for Jesus Christ which was reflected in her love for people-something for which she was well known. She was a faithful, devoted member of the First Church of God of South Fallsburg where she served as a trustee, Sunday School teacher, and praise and worship leader. She also regularly participated in the former Sullivan County Community Black History Month Choir. Beth served as an emergency volunteer for the South Fallsburg Volunteer Ambulance Squad as well. 

Beth worked as a kitchen assistant at Crystal Run Village Inc.-a residential facility for people with developmental and intellectual disabilities. She received a special appreciation award in 1993 for her service there. She later retired from this position at age 72. 

On June 3, 2026, Bethsheba received special recognition from the Town of Fallsburg as a centenarian who had contributed to the welfare of her community. She received "a key to the Town." 

Bethsheba's abiding faith in God enabled her to face and overcome life's adversities. In fact, during a very difficult period in her life, she always began her church testimony by reciting, "Must Jesus bear the cross alone and all the world go free? No there's a cross for everyone and there's a cross for me." She taught this lesson to her children. When they faced their own obstacles and challenges, she would encourage them to look to God for help by singing, "Sailing"-a hymn from her youth. She would step right up to their faces, look them straight in the eye, and sing in her rich alto voice: 

Sailing, sailing across life's seas 

Sailing onto eternity 

Billows thrashing to harm my soul 

But my ship is ever under the Lord's control 

Her favorite Bible verse was Psalm 34:1-9: "I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth." Her favorite hymn was "On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand." 

Bethsheba was predeceased by her parents, Gratnie and Maggie Smith; her husband, Frank Young; ten siblings: Henry Miller Smith, Mattie Lucille Smith, Minor Smith, Cosby Smith, Lloyd Smith, Armored "Rome" Smith, Alfred Smith, Rachel Graham, Naomi Haywood, and Mary Searles; and one grandchild, Donald Jared Buckner III. She is survived by her sister, Orpha Battle; daughters: Myra (Tyrone) Armstead Bynoe, Vanessa Young, Roxanne Young, and Letise (Donald) Buckner; sons: Larin Young and Cosby Young: grandchildren, Justin Buckner, Darius Bucker, Matthew Armstead, Nathan (Sabina) Armstead, Daisirée (Garrick) Young Black, and Loren Young; great grandchildren: Jared Buckner, Kyla Buckner, and Garrick Black III; and a wonderful host of nieces, nephews, and cousins.

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