Roberta ("Betsy") Thorburn Longoria

Roberta (“Betsy”) Thorburn Longoria of Black Mountain, North Carolina, passed Saturday, December 25, 2021. She was sixty-five.

Betsy was born July 9, 1956, to the late Roberta (“Robin”) Thorburn Reuter Stanier and Frank Longoria in Tyler, Texas. Her early life had much travel, living in Venezuela, Mexico, Australia and Singapore before her family returned to Texas. Many summers were spent in Chautauqua, New York where the family would gather. After graduating from the University of Texas at Tyler, Betsy moved to Lake Lure to help her mother Robin and husband Jack Stanier run the Lodge on Lake Lure for 10 years, while also helping care for first her grandmother, Roberta Reuter, then her mother in their later years. 

She moved to Asheville and worked at the Grove Park Inn as concierge for many years, which allowed her to use her extraordinary gift for warm-hearted helpfulness. Shortly before her passing she had joined Mission Rathbun House in Asheville as Volunteer Coordinator and was very excited in this new opportunity to help others and grow there as well.

Wherever she lived and worked, she volunteered tirelessly for child welfare through several organizations, lately with Buncombe County Guardian Ad Litem as a strong CASA advocate. Over the years she earned several Volunteer of the Year and other recognitions. She was a life-long member of the Episcopal Church, being a member at the Church of the Transfiguration in Lake Lure for many years.

Preceding her in death were her parents, grandmother Roberta Reuter, and uncle Walter Reuter.

She is survived by her sisters, Cynthia Anne Webb (Craig Dorval) of San Diego, California, and Maria Cristina Longoria of Hendersonville, North Carolina; nephews Geoffrey and Corwin Webb both of Los Angeles, California, Eric Stimson of Wilmington, North Carolina, niece Adrienne Stimson and great niece Eva Walker-Stimson of Burnsville, North Carolina.

Betsy had a unique joy for life, for serving others and making them comfortable and happy. She loved interacting with guests at both the Lodge on Lake Lure and at Grove Park Inn, making life-long friends with co-workers and guests. Her immediate and extended family loved her sense of humor, her love of adventure and her kind and nurturing heart. She will be missed.

Details regarding a memorial service are to be determined, to be held in Asheville around the 23rd of March, 2022. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Helping At Risk Kids (HARK): https://www.hark-bc.org/

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