Bettye M. Hinton, age 90 of Hardinsburg, KY died Friday, January 9, 2026 at Breckinridge Memorial Extended Care Facility. She was born in Hardinsburg, KY on September 23, 1935, the daughter of the late Elmer and Nola McClellan Hinton. Bettye was a Certified Public Accountant and graduated from Murray State before there was student loans. She worked several years saving her money to put herself through college without assistance. Bettye worked for 40 years at car dealerships in Ohio, Murray and Lexington, Kentucky. At one time Bettye owned and operated an Avis car rental company in Lexington. Bettye enjoyed numbers and accounting to balance books and account for every cent of a business owner’s funds. Audits were her specialty. She took great pride in her work and after retiring and moving back to Hardinsburg in 1996 she continued to do taxes out of her house at Swan Lake Estates. Bettye never married or had any children but loved her family and friends and they cherished the time they had with her. Bettye loved her German shepherd Puppy and her poodle Chere’. Bettye also enjoyed taking care of her flower beds that she spent countless hours hauling rock in a wheelbarrow to make all around her retirement house.
In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by all of her sisters Ida Stinnett, Anna Rae Lucas, Carolyn Sanders and Darlene Smith Greenwood.
Bettye is survived by her two nephews Garry Smith (Debbie) and Barry Smith (Kim) both of Hardinsburg, KY and several nieces and nephews residing in Irvington, KY, Leitchfield, KY, Tell City, IN, Florida and Virginia.
In keeping with Bettye’s wishes, cremation was chosen with no services under the direction of Trent-Dowell Funeral Home.