Becky Jean Baxter Deal

Becky Jean Baxter Deal was born in Little Rock, Arkansas on August 10, 1942, and died at her home in Monroe County, Georgia, on October 20, 2026. Her father, George Baxter, a Captain in the Army Air Force in WWII was lost over Germany in 1944 when she was two years old. Her mother, Thelma Lorene Means predeceased her in 2012. She was educated in the Little Rock public school system and attended Hendrix College. She married Davey R(Ron) Deal in 1963 while they were both still in college. After their first child, Davey Jr., was born, she completed her BS in Biology at the University of Arkansas (Little Rock) in 1964.

Becky taught senior high chemistry and biology in Little Rock and Atlanta public school systems as well as at the Chapin School in New York City. After twin daughters, Cathy and Christy, were born in 1968, she concentrated on raising their three children.

Medical school and subsequent advanced training carried the Deal family to both coasts before they decided to move to Georgia in 1976 where Ron began his medical practice in Macon.

Ron and Becky celebrated their sixty-third wedding anniversary earlier this year. Becky was a loving and very supportive wife plus a devoted mother and grandmother. She valued complete honesty and remained steadfastly loyal to her friends and family. She survived a dissecting aortic aneurism and kidney cancer in 2018 which was a testimony to her fortitude.

She was athletically gifted and in her younger years was the high school and college cheerleader who learned to ride horses well enough to scout dogs in field trials. Her primary interest was always family, but she loved all animals especially her English cockers.

As she aged, her outside interests turned more to domestic and international travel. She especially enjoyed taking her grandchildren on trips that included a Disney cruise, the Middle Fork of the Salmon River, New York City, Costa Rico, and New Orleans. Some of her favorite international destinations were the Amalfi coast, Machu Picchu, Eastern Europe along the Danube and Tahiti, where a visit completed a lifelong dream of hers.

Despite progressively declining pulmonary function in her final years, she still managed to take an Alaskan cruise, where the sea-level elevation made travel possible. Several months ago, she became fully dependent on supplemental oxygen. Though her activity was severely limited, she retained her mental acuity and sense of humor until the end. Her goal was to spend her final days in her own home and she achieved that aim.

Becky is survived by her husband, Ron Deal; her son, Davey Deal Jr.; her daughters, Cathy Carver, and Christine Deal; and her six grandchildren: Ansley and Lindsay Carver, William and Luke Deal, and Julia and Sophia Megargle.

Becky Deal will be missed by everyone who knew her. The family will have a private service. Visitation for friends of the family will be held on November 16, 2026, from 4-6 PM at Hart’s Mortuary at the Cupola located at 6324 Peake Road, Macon, Georgia 31210.

Her favorite charity was St Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. Any donation to that institution in her honor will be appreciated.

Please visit www.hartsmort.com to express your condolences.

Hart's Mortuary at the Cupola, 6324 Peake Road, Macon, Georgia 31210, has charge of the arrangements.