Betty Ree Armstrong was born April 22, 1949, to Robert Jones and Azrie Jones in Soso, Mississippi. She was the fourth out of five children.

At the age of 15, Betty and her family moved to Los Angeles, CA where she attended Jefferson High School. At the age of 18 she married Moses Armstrong, and a few months later she gave birth to her first child, Denise Armstrong. Things took a turn around the age of 20, when she met Ervin Mims; months later she had her second child, Vontrea Mims. By the age of 23, Betty was a single mother raising two small children on her own working as a housekeeper and a caretaker for the elderly. Later Betty began working as an IHSS provider for both her parents, but her main priority was her two children. Later on in life, she met her partner Curtis Crutcher, whom she spent the last 20 years with until her death. Betty loved her grandchildren, Christopher Evans and Abbas Khalid, and raised them after her daughter passed away. She also took care of Tatiana, Jeremiah, Joshua, and Mia Mims.

Betty loved going to Las Vegas to play the slot machines. She loved cooking and baking pies for her family. Betty knew about God, and she tried to live her life as simple as possible.

Those who preceded her in death were her parents Robert and Azrie Jones, her daughter Denise Armstrong and her brother James Edward Jones.

She leaves to cherish her memories her son, Vontrea (Catalina), her partner of 20 years, Curtis Crutcher, a brother Robert (Shirley) Jones, two sisters: Allie Bruce and Annie Crutcher, six grandchildren, a great-granddaughter Melanie, and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.