Bettye Caruso

With great sadness in our hearts, the family of Bettye Caruso announces that she peacefully entered eternal life on December 6, 2025, at the age 98.

She resided in Fort Walton Beach, Florida since 1949.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Frank T. Caruso. She is survived by her five children; seven grandchildren;  two nieces; and one grandniece.

Mom was extremely active in church and civic affairs. In her early days in Fort Walton Beach, she was a Sunday School teacher at the First Baptist Church and volunteered with the March of Dimes, the Brownies and Girl Scouts and later served as a Cub Scouts Pack Den Mother. Mom supported Dad in his activities with the American Legion, the VFW, and Knights of Columbus. She was extremely supportive of Dad’s involvement with the Boy Scouts of America. She was the unofficial “Quartermaster” for Troop 506, helping Dad make menus for campouts, and purchase and pack the food and supplies. The day before campouts, her living room became a staging area. She was lovingly called “Mrs. C” by hundreds of boys.

Mom twice served as President of the St. Mary's Council of Catholic Women. She also served as President of the West Central Deanery of the Council of Catholic Women and as President of the Knights of Columbus Auxiliary. She was a volunteer for the Arthritis Foundation and as a Tutor for the Okaloosa County School System. She was a founding member of the St. Mary Burse Club, and belonged to the Legion of Mary Auxiliary, St. Mary’s Altar Society and the Sons & Daughters of Italy.

Mom loved to travel and planned trips for each summer, sometimes near, and sometimes far, from home. We fondly remember going to the Smoky Mountains, Niagara Falls, Washington D.C., New York City, Boston, and many destinations in Florida. After Dad retired, they traveled to Europe and the West Coast, and to Highlands, N.C., where they vacationed with her brother and her sister and brother-in-law. Mom was an outstanding cook. Having been raised in the South, traditional “Southern” cuisine was often on the table (her fried chicken was the best anywhere!), but she had learned how to cook delicious authentic Italian cuisine from Dad’s Italian mother, Lucy. Absolutely no one made a better pizza than Mom because she knew the dough was most important and she knew all the secrets of making the dough. After her mother moved to Louisiana, Mom became adept at cooking Creole cuisine, thanks in part to the gift of the River Road Cookbook and personal recipes from her mother. Few cooks could match her phenomenal baking ability.

A devoted Grandmother, she and Dad attended baptisms, and high school and college graduations of their seven grandchildren.

In her later years, she kept her mind active by reading and solving a daily crossword puzzles and she maintained strong family and community connections.

Services will be held at St. Mary Catholic Church in Fort Walton Beach on Friday, February 27, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. A reception will be held after services in the St. Mary Life Center. A private family burial service will later take place at Jesse Rogers Memorial Cemetery in Mary Esther, Florida.

Memorial donations may be made to the “DCCW Burse Club”, online at secure.myvanco.com or mailed to 11 N B. Street, Pensacola, Florida 32502. (Please write “Bettye Caruso” in the Memo section online or your check).