Betty Petty
1928-2017
BETTY JO HIGGINBOTHAM PETTY, a sixth generation Texan, was born on the Higginbotham farm in the Lone Pine Community, located between Lovelady and Crockett in Houston County, Texas, on the 14th of January 1928, to Joseph Austin and Laura Evin (Sharp) Higginbotham, in the farm house standing on the farm today. Betty lived her life to the fullest. She loved her husband, her family, and her God. She will be missed.
Betty moved with her family as a high school student to Beaumont, where she graduated from South Park High School in 1943, at age 15. Betty received the first scholarship awarded by the Texas Chapter, Daughters of the Republic of Texas, in Beaumont, in 1943, enabling her to be the first member of her family to attend college. After graduating from Lamar Junior College in 1945, she enrolled at Texas State College for Women in Denton, graduating in 1947 at age 19, with a B.S. degree, majoring in homemaking.
In Denton, Betty had met a returned Army Air Corp veteran, Robert H. "Bob" Petty from Corsicana, who was attending North Texas State Teachers College. They married in the Little Chapel at TSCW her senior year and started their family in Denton.
In 1948, the young Petty family moved to Oak Forest in Houston where their son was born and Betty began her teaching career, teaching homemaking in HISD and Cy-Fair ISD. Following Bob in his career moves, Betty taught in Arlington, Freer, Poteet, Pleasanton, Corpus Christi, and New Orleans until retiring in 1973, teaching many subjects--homemaking, 3rd and 5th grade, American history, girls' P.E., 7th grade math, and remedial 4th grade math, and handling extra duties as FHA sponsor, coaching girls' basketball, and as cheerleader sponsor. Her favorite tenure was teaching 7th grade remedial and advanced math at Baker Jr. High School in Corpus Christi. Betty served as president of the National Association of Math Teachers and presided over its national convention held in Corpus Christi. She served as president of the Corpus Christi Classroom Teachers Association, during which time she was able to find a sponsor to introduce and pass a law to allow classroom teachers to report suspected child abuse without legal consequences.
Gov. Preston Smith named Betty a "Yellow Rose of Texas" and appointed her to the Task Force to write the Code of Conduct for the public school teachers of Texas.
During Betty's teaching career, she attended college in the summers--the University of Houston, obtaining an elementary education certificate, driver's education certificate, and a M.A. in history and Auburn University to study mathematics for a M.S.
Betty began a computer career in Washington, D. C., at the Bureau of Labor Statistics in 1974. Betty and Bob returned to Houston in 1980 when she worked for U.S. Customs, before accepting a position at American General where she specialized in data management. Betty volunteered tirelessly for her HOA in Barwood, publishing the newsletter and serving as treasurer and president. Always a student, she attended numerous IBM courses, participated in the Houston area Data Base Users Group, serving as president and program chair, and was an early member of HAL-PC. After retiring from American General in 1998, Betty returned to computer work as a consultant and then as an employee at HL&P, to ready the "legacy" computer for Y2K, retiring again, three weeks before her 74th birthday. Betty's teaching and computer career spanned 54 years.
Betty was devoted to her family. Betty and Bob moved back to Houston in 1980, allowing Betty to be close to and help care for her mother and allowing Betty and Bob to be close to their grandchildren and be part of their lives, never missing a sporting event or a performance. Bob, retired from U.S. Customs in the 1980s and passed away in 1995. Their son, Robert Austin Petty, passed away in 1999.
After her final retirement in 2001, Betty taught computer skills in the Pct. 5 senior program and enjoyed senior activities with the Pct. 4 program.
Betty maintained her Cypress home until 2005 when she moved to her "apartment" in the Wood home, where she lived until needing care in a memory center in 2017 in the advanced stages of Alzheimer's disease. Betty adopted her beloved Labrador retriever "Lady" in 2006, who kept her company until 2016. She enjoyed driving Missy on errands and lived a very active life.
Betty was a member of St. Luke's United Methodist Church and a former member of St. Matthew's United Methodist Church.
Betty was a "people person," personally knowing her fellow employees, her neighbors, and the employees where she traded who knew to look forward to the Christmas candy she personally delivered.
As a 6th generation Texan, whose ancestors settled in Houston and, the later, Anderson Counties, Betty proudly joined the San Jacinto Chapter of The Daughters of the Republic of Texas in 2008, enjoying its many activities until 2016 when her Alzheimer's disease kept her at home with special caregivers.
Betty is predeceased by husband, Robert H. "Bob" Petty and son, Robert Austin "Bobby" Petty of Houston; her parents, Joe and Laura (Sharp) Higginbotham of Houston and Lone Pine; and grandparents, Elizabeth "Lizzy" (Spence) and Leonard "Stell" Sharp of Crockett and Dora Elizabeth (Hassel) and Sam Houston Higginbotham of Lone Pine; all of her aunts and uncles; 42 of her 46 cousins; her siblings and brother-in-law, Elizabeth Dora "Beth" (Higginbotham) Bitner, Samuel Eugene Higginbotham, and Laura Sue (Higginbotham) and John Houston Davis III.
Betty accompanied Bob to his Dodd "First Cousins" gathering each year and continued attending after Bob died. Kenneth Miles of Missouri is now the surviving Dodd first cousin.
Betty is survived by her daughter and son-in-law Hon. Sharolyn (Petty) and Hon. Michael J. Wood; grandchildren and spouses, Christopher Andrew and Debbie (Yee) Wood of Houston, Scott Austin Petty, Richard Evin "Ricky" Wood of Dallas, and Laura Elizabeth (Wood) and Grant Cox of Marble Falls; and great-grandchildren Harper Wai-Yu Wood, Henley Kate Wood, Evin Elizabeth Wood, Anson David Cox, and Austin Michael Cox.
She is also survived by brother-in-law Orlan E. Bitner, Sr. of Lone Pine, previously of Houston, who continues to manage the Higginbotham farm, and sister-in-law Harriett "Judy" (Wade) Higginbotham of Houston; nieces and nephews Orlan E. Bitner, Jr. (Jan), Janet Bitner, and Joe Bitner (Lori), all of Austin; Judy Barron (Kevin) of Corsicana; Debbie Roberts (David) of Hawaii and Alaska; Allen Higginbotham of Tyler; Mark Davis of Los Angeles; and Nancy James (Tom), Sam Higginbotham, and John Davis (Teri), all of Houston; and numerous great nieces and nephews.
Friends are cordially invited to a visitation with the family from four o'clock in the afternoon until six o'clock in the evening on Sunday, the 29th of October, in the library and grand foyer of Geo H. Lewis & Sons, 1010 Bering Drive in Houston.
A graveside service is to be conducted at half past nine o'clock in the morning on Monday, the 30th of October, at Forest Park Lawndale Cemetery, 6900 Lawndale Avenue in Houston.
The memorial service is to be conducted at eleven o'clock in the morning on Monday, the 30th of October, in the Chapel of St. Luke's United Methodist Church, 3471 Westheimer Rd in Houston, where Rev. Bill Denhem is to officiate. Immediately following, all are invited to greet the family during a reception to be held in the Hines-Baker room.
In lieu of customary remembrances, memorial contributions in Betty's memory may be directed to San Jacinto Chapter, Daughters of the Republic of Texas, 1510 Cambridge St, Houston, TX 77030; St. Luke's United Methodist Church, 3471 Westheimer, Houston, TX 77027.
Published in Houston Chronicle on Oct. 25, 2017
1928-2017
BETTY JO HIGGINBOTHAM PETTY, a sixth generation Texan, was born on the Higginbotham farm in the Lone Pine Community, located between Lovelady and Crockett in Houston County, Texas, on the 14th of January 1928, to Joseph Austin and Laura Evin (Sharp) Higginbotham, in the farm house standing on the farm today. Betty lived her life to the fullest. She loved her husband, her family, and her God. She will be missed.
Betty moved with her family as a high school student to Beaumont, where she graduated from South Park High School in 1943, at age 15. Betty received the first scholarship awarded by the Texas Chapter, Daughters of the Republic of Texas, in Beaumont, in 1943, enabling her to be the first member of her family to attend college. After graduating from Lamar Junior College in 1945, she enrolled at Texas State College for Women in Denton, graduating in 1947 at age 19, with a B.S. degree, majoring in homemaking.
In Denton, Betty had met a returned Army Air Corp veteran, Robert H. "Bob" Petty from Corsicana, who was attending North Texas State Teachers College. They married in the Little Chapel at TSCW her senior year and started their family in Denton.
In 1948, the young Petty family moved to Oak Forest in Houston where their son was born and Betty began her teaching career, teaching homemaking in HISD and Cy-Fair ISD. Following Bob in his career moves, Betty taught in Arlington, Freer, Poteet, Pleasanton, Corpus Christi, and New Orleans until retiring in 1973, teaching many subjects--homemaking, 3rd and 5th grade, American history, girls' P.E., 7th grade math, and remedial 4th grade math, and handling extra duties as FHA sponsor, coaching girls' basketball, and as cheerleader sponsor. Her favorite tenure was teaching 7th grade remedial and advanced math at Baker Jr. High School in Corpus Christi. Betty served as president of the National Association of Math Teachers and presided over its national convention held in Corpus Christi. She served as president of the Corpus Christi Classroom Teachers Association, during which time she was able to find a sponsor to introduce and pass a law to allow classroom teachers to report suspected child abuse without legal consequences.
Gov. Preston Smith named Betty a "Yellow Rose of Texas" and appointed her to the Task Force to write the Code of Conduct for the public school teachers of Texas.
During Betty's teaching career, she attended college in the summers--the University of Houston, obtaining an elementary education certificate, driver's education certificate, and a M.A. in history and Auburn University to study mathematics for a M.S.
Betty began a computer career in Washington, D. C., at the Bureau of Labor Statistics in 1974. Betty and Bob returned to Houston in 1980 when she worked for U.S. Customs, before accepting a position at American General where she specialized in data management. Betty volunteered tirelessly for her HOA in Barwood, publishing the newsletter and serving as treasurer and president. Always a student, she attended numerous IBM courses, participated in the Houston area Data Base Users Group, serving as president and program chair, and was an early member of HAL-PC. After retiring from American General in 1998, Betty returned to computer work as a consultant and then as an employee at HL&P, to ready the "legacy" computer for Y2K, retiring again, three weeks before her 74th birthday. Betty's teaching and computer career spanned 54 years.
Betty was devoted to her family. Betty and Bob moved back to Houston in 1980, allowing Betty to be close to and help care for her mother and allowing Betty and Bob to be close to their grandchildren and be part of their lives, never missing a sporting event or a performance. Bob, retired from U.S. Customs in the 1980s and passed away in 1995. Their son, Robert Austin Petty, passed away in 1999.
After her final retirement in 2001, Betty taught computer skills in the Pct. 5 senior program and enjoyed senior activities with the Pct. 4 program.
Betty maintained her Cypress home until 2005 when she moved to her "apartment" in the Wood home, where she lived until needing care in a memory center in 2017 in the advanced stages of Alzheimer's disease. Betty adopted her beloved Labrador retriever "Lady" in 2006, who kept her company until 2016. She enjoyed driving Missy on errands and lived a very active life.
Betty was a member of St. Luke's United Methodist Church and a former member of St. Matthew's United Methodist Church.
Betty was a "people person," personally knowing her fellow employees, her neighbors, and the employees where she traded who knew to look forward to the Christmas candy she personally delivered.
As a 6th generation Texan, whose ancestors settled in Houston and, the later, Anderson Counties, Betty proudly joined the San Jacinto Chapter of The Daughters of the Republic of Texas in 2008, enjoying its many activities until 2016 when her Alzheimer's disease kept her at home with special caregivers.
Betty is predeceased by husband, Robert H. "Bob" Petty and son, Robert Austin "Bobby" Petty of Houston; her parents, Joe and Laura (Sharp) Higginbotham of Houston and Lone Pine; and grandparents, Elizabeth "Lizzy" (Spence) and Leonard "Stell" Sharp of Crockett and Dora Elizabeth (Hassel) and Sam Houston Higginbotham of Lone Pine; all of her aunts and uncles; 42 of her 46 cousins; her siblings and brother-in-law, Elizabeth Dora "Beth" (Higginbotham) Bitner, Samuel Eugene Higginbotham, and Laura Sue (Higginbotham) and John Houston Davis III.
Betty accompanied Bob to his Dodd "First Cousins" gathering each year and continued attending after Bob died. Kenneth Miles of Missouri is now the surviving Dodd first cousin.
Betty is survived by her daughter and son-in-law Hon. Sharolyn (Petty) and Hon. Michael J. Wood; grandchildren and spouses, Christopher Andrew and Debbie (Yee) Wood of Houston, Scott Austin Petty, Richard Evin "Ricky" Wood of Dallas, and Laura Elizabeth (Wood) and Grant Cox of Marble Falls; and great-grandchildren Harper Wai-Yu Wood, Henley Kate Wood, Evin Elizabeth Wood, Anson David Cox, and Austin Michael Cox.
She is also survived by brother-in-law Orlan E. Bitner, Sr. of Lone Pine, previously of Houston, who continues to manage the Higginbotham farm, and sister-in-law Harriett "Judy" (Wade) Higginbotham of Houston; nieces and nephews Orlan E. Bitner, Jr. (Jan), Janet Bitner, and Joe Bitner (Lori), all of Austin; Judy Barron (Kevin) of Corsicana; Debbie Roberts (David) of Hawaii and Alaska; Allen Higginbotham of Tyler; Mark Davis of Los Angeles; and Nancy James (Tom), Sam Higginbotham, and John Davis (Teri), all of Houston; and numerous great nieces and nephews.
Friends are cordially invited to a visitation with the family from four o'clock in the afternoon until six o'clock in the evening on Sunday, the 29th of October, in the library and grand foyer of Geo H. Lewis & Sons, 1010 Bering Drive in Houston.
A graveside service is to be conducted at half past nine o'clock in the morning on Monday, the 30th of October, at Forest Park Lawndale Cemetery, 6900 Lawndale Avenue in Houston.
The memorial service is to be conducted at eleven o'clock in the morning on Monday, the 30th of October, in the Chapel of St. Luke's United Methodist Church, 3471 Westheimer Rd in Houston, where Rev. Bill Denhem is to officiate. Immediately following, all are invited to greet the family during a reception to be held in the Hines-Baker room.
In lieu of customary remembrances, memorial contributions in Betty's memory may be directed to San Jacinto Chapter, Daughters of the Republic of Texas, 1510 Cambridge St, Houston, TX 77030; St. Luke's United Methodist Church, 3471 Westheimer, Houston, TX 77027.
Published in Houston Chronicle on Oct. 25, 2017
Betty Petty
1928-2017
BETTY JO HIGGINBOTHAM PETTY, a sixth generation Texan, was born on the Higginbotham farm in the Lone Pine Community, located between Lovelady and Crockett in Houston County, Texas, on the 14th of January 1928, to Joseph Austin and Laura Evin (Sharp) Higginbotham, in the farm house standing on the farm today. Betty lived her life to the fullest. She loved her husband, her family, and her God. She will be missed.
Betty moved with her family as a high school student to Beaumont, where she graduated from South Park High School in 1943, at age 15. Betty received the first scholarship awarded by the Texas Chapter, Daughters of the Republic of Texas, in Beaumont, in 1943, enabling her to be the first member of her family to attend college. After graduating from Lamar Junior College in 1945, she enrolled at Texas State College for Women in Denton, graduating in 1947 at age 19, with a B.S. degree, majoring in homemaking.
In Denton, Betty had met a returned Army Air Corp veteran, Robert H. "Bob" Petty from Corsicana, who was attending North Texas State Teachers College. They married in the Little Chapel at TSCW her senior year and started their family in Denton.
In 1948, the young Petty family moved to Oak Forest in Houston where their son was born and Betty began her teaching career, teaching homemaking in HISD and Cy-Fair ISD. Following Bob in his career moves, Betty taught in Arlington, Freer, Poteet, Pleasanton, Corpus Christi, and New Orleans until retiring in 1973, teaching many subjects--homemaking, 3rd and 5th grade, American history, girls' P.E., 7th grade math, and remedial 4th grade math, and handling extra duties as FHA sponsor, coaching girls' basketball, and as cheerleader sponsor. Her favorite tenure was teaching 7th grade remedial and advanced math at Baker Jr. High School in Corpus Christi. Betty served as president of the National Association of Math Teachers and presided over its national convention held in Corpus Christi. She served as president of the Corpus Christi Classroom Teachers Association, during which time she was able to find a sponsor to introduce and pass a law to allow classroom teachers to report suspected child abuse without legal consequences.
Gov. Preston Smith named Betty a "Yellow Rose of Texas" and appointed her to the Task Force to write the Code of Conduct for the public school teachers of Texas.
During Betty's teaching career, she attended college in the summers--the University of Houston, obtaining an elementary education certificate, driver's education certificate, and a M.A. in history and Auburn University to study mathematics for a M.S.
Betty began a computer career in Washington, D. C., at the Bureau of Labor Statistics in 1974. Betty and Bob returned to Houston in 1980 when she worked for U.S. Customs, before accepting a position at American General where she specialized in data management. Betty volunteered tirelessly for her HOA in Barwood, publishing the newsletter and serving as treasurer and president. Always a student, she attended numerous IBM courses, participated in the Houston area Data Base Users Group, serving as president and program chair, and was an early member of HAL-PC. After retiring from American General in 1998, Betty returned to computer work as a consultant and then as an employee at HL&P, to ready the "legacy" computer for Y2K, retiring again, three weeks before her 74th birthday. Betty's teaching and computer career spanned 54 years.
Betty was devoted to her family. Betty and Bob moved back to Houston in 1980, allowing Betty to be close to and help care for her mother and allowing Betty and Bob to be close to their grandchildren and be part of their lives, never missing a sporting event or a performance. Bob, retired from U.S. Customs in the 1980s and passed away in 1995. Their son, Robert Austin Petty, passed away in 1999.
After her final retirement in 2001, Betty taught computer skills in the Pct. 5 senior program and enjoyed senior activities with the Pct. 4 program.
Betty maintained her Cypress home until 2005 when she moved to her "apartment" in the Wood home, where she lived until needing care in a memory center in 2017 in the advanced stages of Alzheimer's disease. Betty adopted her beloved Labrador retriever "Lady" in 2006, who kept her company until 2016. She enjoyed driving Missy on errands and lived a very active life.
Betty was a member of St. Luke's United Methodist Church and a former member of St. Matthew's United Methodist Church.
Betty was a "people person," personally knowing her fellow employees, her neighbors, and the employees where she traded who knew to look forward to the Christmas candy she personally delivered.
As a 6th generation Texan, whose ancestors settled in Houston and, the later, Anderson Counties, Betty proudly joined the San Jacinto Chapter of The Daughters of the Republic of Texas in 2008, enjoying its many activities until 2016 when her Alzheimer's disease kept her at home with special caregivers.
Betty is predeceased by husband, Robert H. "Bob" Petty and son, Robert Austin "Bobby" Petty of Houston; her parents, Joe and Laura (Sharp) Higginbotham of Houston and Lone Pine; and grandparents, Elizabeth "Lizzy" (Spence) and Leonard "Stell" Sharp of Crockett and Dora Elizabeth (Hassel) and Sam Houston Higginbotham of Lone Pine; all of her aunts and uncles; 42 of her 46 cousins; her siblings and brother-in-law, Elizabeth Dora "Beth" (Higginbotham) Bitner, Samuel Eugene Higginbotham, and Laura Sue (Higginbotham) and John Houston Davis III.
Betty accompanied Bob to his Dodd "First Cousins" gathering each year and continued attending after Bob died. Kenneth Miles of Missouri is now the surviving Dodd first cousin.
Betty is survived by her daughter and son-in-law Hon. Sharolyn (Petty) and Hon. Michael J. Wood; grandchildren and spouses, Christopher Andrew and Debbie (Yee) Wood of Houston, Scott Austin Petty, Richard Evin "Ricky" Wood of Dallas, and Laura Elizabeth (Wood) and Grant Cox of Marble Falls; and great-grandchildren Harper Wai-Yu Wood, Henley Kate Wood, Evin Elizabeth Wood, Anson David Cox, and Austin Michael Cox.
She is also survived by brother-in-law Orlan E. Bitner, Sr. of Lone Pine, previously of Houston, who continues to manage the Higginbotham farm, and sister-in-law Harriett "Judy" (Wade) Higginbotham of Houston; nieces and nephews Orlan E. Bitner, Jr. (Jan), Janet Bitner, and Joe Bitner (Lori), all of Austin; Judy Barron (Kevin) of Corsicana; Debbie Roberts (David) of Hawaii and Alaska; Allen Higginbotham of Tyler; Mark Davis of Los Angeles; and Nancy James (Tom), Sam Higginbotham, and John Davis (Teri), all of Houston; and numerous great nieces and nephews.
Friends are cordially invited to a visitation with the family from four o'clock in the afternoon until six o'clock in the evening on Sunday, the 29th of October, in the library and grand foyer of Geo H. Lewis & Sons, 1010 Bering Drive in Houston.
A graveside service is to be conducted at half past nine o'clock in the morning on Monday, the 30th of October, at Forest Park Lawndale Cemetery, 6900 Lawndale Avenue in Houston.
The memorial service is to be conducted at eleven o'clock in the morning on Monday, the 30th of October, in the Chapel of St. Luke's United Methodist Church, 3471 Westheimer Rd in Houston, where Rev. Bill Denhem is to officiate. Immediately following, all are invited to greet the family during a reception to be held in the Hines-Baker room.
In lieu of customary remembrances, memorial contributions in Betty's memory may be directed to San Jacinto Chapter, Daughters of the Republic of Texas, 1510 Cambridge St, Houston, TX 77030; St. Luke's United Methodist Church, 3471 Westheimer, Houston, TX 77027.
Published in Houston Chronicle on Oct. 25, 2017
1928-2017
BETTY JO HIGGINBOTHAM PETTY, a sixth generation Texan, was born on the Higginbotham farm in the Lone Pine Community, located between Lovelady and Crockett in Houston County, Texas, on the 14th of January 1928, to Joseph Austin and Laura Evin (Sharp) Higginbotham, in the farm house standing on the farm today. Betty lived her life to the fullest. She loved her husband, her family, and her God. She will be missed.
Betty moved with her family as a high school student to Beaumont, where she graduated from South Park High School in 1943, at age 15. Betty received the first scholarship awarded by the Texas Chapter, Daughters of the Republic of Texas, in Beaumont, in 1943, enabling her to be the first member of her family to attend college. After graduating from Lamar Junior College in 1945, she enrolled at Texas State College for Women in Denton, graduating in 1947 at age 19, with a B.S. degree, majoring in homemaking.
In Denton, Betty had met a returned Army Air Corp veteran, Robert H. "Bob" Petty from Corsicana, who was attending North Texas State Teachers College. They married in the Little Chapel at TSCW her senior year and started their family in Denton.
In 1948, the young Petty family moved to Oak Forest in Houston where their son was born and Betty began her teaching career, teaching homemaking in HISD and Cy-Fair ISD. Following Bob in his career moves, Betty taught in Arlington, Freer, Poteet, Pleasanton, Corpus Christi, and New Orleans until retiring in 1973, teaching many subjects--homemaking, 3rd and 5th grade, American history, girls' P.E., 7th grade math, and remedial 4th grade math, and handling extra duties as FHA sponsor, coaching girls' basketball, and as cheerleader sponsor. Her favorite tenure was teaching 7th grade remedial and advanced math at Baker Jr. High School in Corpus Christi. Betty served as president of the National Association of Math Teachers and presided over its national convention held in Corpus Christi. She served as president of the Corpus Christi Classroom Teachers Association, during which time she was able to find a sponsor to introduce and pass a law to allow classroom teachers to report suspected child abuse without legal consequences.
Gov. Preston Smith named Betty a "Yellow Rose of Texas" and appointed her to the Task Force to write the Code of Conduct for the public school teachers of Texas.
During Betty's teaching career, she attended college in the summers--the University of Houston, obtaining an elementary education certificate, driver's education certificate, and a M.A. in history and Auburn University to study mathematics for a M.S.
Betty began a computer career in Washington, D. C., at the Bureau of Labor Statistics in 1974. Betty and Bob returned to Houston in 1980 when she worked for U.S. Customs, before accepting a position at American General where she specialized in data management. Betty volunteered tirelessly for her HOA in Barwood, publishing the newsletter and serving as treasurer and president. Always a student, she attended numerous IBM courses, participated in the Houston area Data Base Users Group, serving as president and program chair, and was an early member of HAL-PC. After retiring from American General in 1998, Betty returned to computer work as a consultant and then as an employee at HL&P, to ready the "legacy" computer for Y2K, retiring again, three weeks before her 74th birthday. Betty's teaching and computer career spanned 54 years.
Betty was devoted to her family. Betty and Bob moved back to Houston in 1980, allowing Betty to be close to and help care for her mother and allowing Betty and Bob to be close to their grandchildren and be part of their lives, never missing a sporting event or a performance. Bob, retired from U.S. Customs in the 1980s and passed away in 1995. Their son, Robert Austin Petty, passed away in 1999.
After her final retirement in 2001, Betty taught computer skills in the Pct. 5 senior program and enjoyed senior activities with the Pct. 4 program.
Betty maintained her Cypress home until 2005 when she moved to her "apartment" in the Wood home, where she lived until needing care in a memory center in 2017 in the advanced stages of Alzheimer's disease. Betty adopted her beloved Labrador retriever "Lady" in 2006, who kept her company until 2016. She enjoyed driving Missy on errands and lived a very active life.
Betty was a member of St. Luke's United Methodist Church and a former member of St. Matthew's United Methodist Church.
Betty was a "people person," personally knowing her fellow employees, her neighbors, and the employees where she traded who knew to look forward to the Christmas candy she personally delivered.
As a 6th generation Texan, whose ancestors settled in Houston and, the later, Anderson Counties, Betty proudly joined the San Jacinto Chapter of The Daughters of the Republic of Texas in 2008, enjoying its many activities until 2016 when her Alzheimer's disease kept her at home with special caregivers.
Betty is predeceased by husband, Robert H. "Bob" Petty and son, Robert Austin "Bobby" Petty of Houston; her parents, Joe and Laura (Sharp) Higginbotham of Houston and Lone Pine; and grandparents, Elizabeth "Lizzy" (Spence) and Leonard "Stell" Sharp of Crockett and Dora Elizabeth (Hassel) and Sam Houston Higginbotham of Lone Pine; all of her aunts and uncles; 42 of her 46 cousins; her siblings and brother-in-law, Elizabeth Dora "Beth" (Higginbotham) Bitner, Samuel Eugene Higginbotham, and Laura Sue (Higginbotham) and John Houston Davis III.
Betty accompanied Bob to his Dodd "First Cousins" gathering each year and continued attending after Bob died. Kenneth Miles of Missouri is now the surviving Dodd first cousin.
Betty is survived by her daughter and son-in-law Hon. Sharolyn (Petty) and Hon. Michael J. Wood; grandchildren and spouses, Christopher Andrew and Debbie (Yee) Wood of Houston, Scott Austin Petty, Richard Evin "Ricky" Wood of Dallas, and Laura Elizabeth (Wood) and Grant Cox of Marble Falls; and great-grandchildren Harper Wai-Yu Wood, Henley Kate Wood, Evin Elizabeth Wood, Anson David Cox, and Austin Michael Cox.
She is also survived by brother-in-law Orlan E. Bitner, Sr. of Lone Pine, previously of Houston, who continues to manage the Higginbotham farm, and sister-in-law Harriett "Judy" (Wade) Higginbotham of Houston; nieces and nephews Orlan E. Bitner, Jr. (Jan), Janet Bitner, and Joe Bitner (Lori), all of Austin; Judy Barron (Kevin) of Corsicana; Debbie Roberts (David) of Hawaii and Alaska; Allen Higginbotham of Tyler; Mark Davis of Los Angeles; and Nancy James (Tom), Sam Higginbotham, and John Davis (Teri), all of Houston; and numerous great nieces and nephews.
Friends are cordially invited to a visitation with the family from four o'clock in the afternoon until six o'clock in the evening on Sunday, the 29th of October, in the library and grand foyer of Geo H. Lewis & Sons, 1010 Bering Drive in Houston.
A graveside service is to be conducted at half past nine o'clock in the morning on Monday, the 30th of October, at Forest Park Lawndale Cemetery, 6900 Lawndale Avenue in Houston.
The memorial service is to be conducted at eleven o'clock in the morning on Monday, the 30th of October, in the Chapel of St. Luke's United Methodist Church, 3471 Westheimer Rd in Houston, where Rev. Bill Denhem is to officiate. Immediately following, all are invited to greet the family during a reception to be held in the Hines-Baker room.
In lieu of customary remembrances, memorial contributions in Betty's memory may be directed to San Jacinto Chapter, Daughters of the Republic of Texas, 1510 Cambridge St, Houston, TX 77030; St. Luke's United Methodist Church, 3471 Westheimer, Houston, TX 77027.
Published in Houston Chronicle on Oct. 25, 2017
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