Billie Jean King’s mom has died at 91 – Betty Moffitt always supported her visionary daughter’s dreams

Instead of being at today’s opening ceremonies for the Winter Olympics in Sochi, tennis legend Billie Jean King was at the side of her 91-year-old mother when Betty Moffitt died.

Billie Jean clearly adored the mom who always supported her daughter’s dreams – even when she came home one day at 12 and said: “I’m going to change the world!”

Billie Jean, 70, announced earlier this week that she would not be able to fulfill her role as an official US delegate at Sochi because of her mother’s declining health.

She and her younger brother, retired Major League Baseball pitcher Randy Moffitt, traveled to Arizona to be with their surviving parent.

Their father, Bill Moffitt, died in 2006 and had been married to Betty for 65 years.

I was doing a magazine profile on Billie Jean shortly after her father’s death and remember her saying sadly: “I lost my daddy.”

Anyone who has seen any of the documentaries on BJK – particularly the HBO one from 2006 or last year’s American Masters special – could see that this was a tight-knit family.

Betty and Bill Moffitt were by their daughter’s side in 1981 when she held an emotional press conference to confirm that she had been involved in a lesbian affair while married to a man.

Billie Jean’s appointment to the US delegation by President Barack Obama had been widely-publicized and the tennis legend appeared on numerous TV interviews to talk about it.

As one of the most famous lesbian athletes in history and a life-long activist for equality, King’s participation was to be seen as a very public statement against Russia’s anti-gay propaganda law.

Good Morning America host Robin Roberts was among those who took to Twitter to offer condolences: My thoughts are w/ @BillieJeanKing & her family. Very sorry to hear of the passing of your beloved mother. I know you brought her much joy.