Betty J. Brandow Ellis

Betty (Mrs. L. B.”Pete”) Ellis went to be with her Savior and loved ones on Sunday, March 7, 2010, after a long illness. Visitation will be from 12 to 2 p.m. Saturday, March 13, at Memorial Funeral Chapel, 1515 S. College Ave., in Bryan. A memorial service will take place at 2 p.m. at the funeral home with Grady Chism, of Central

Baptist Church officiating. A graveside service will follow in Restever Memorial Park and Mausoleum in Bryan.

Betty was born on January 16, 1924, in Kansas City, Missouri to George R. and Alfreda Tuggle Brandow. She married Pete Ellis in 1943, and they moved to Bryan to be near his family, where Betty began a teaching career that spanned five decades and multiple generations of her students. Betty loved teaching both children and adults and was always focused on finding new and innovative ways to challenge and motivate her students. She was a charter member of the Bryan-College Station Music Teacher’s Association, serving as president three times. Betty was instrumental in establishing the association’s scholarship fund and took a leadership role in Guild

and Interscholastic League activities. Throughout her career she garnered many awards and recognitions.

Betty was bright and animated, cheerful, kind and giving. She was a positive person. She loved so many things including music, cooking and sewing, cats, birds, flowers, clouds and rain; her family, her friends and her church. She was a gentle and sensitive soul. In 2001, Betty and Pete moved to San Antonio to be near their only child, Shirley Ellis McCullough. Betty did not retire but taught three more years at the Brookhollow School of Music.

She was preceded in death by her parents and later in 2004 by her beloved husband of sixty years, Pete.

In addition to her daughter, survivors include her nieces, Caroline Wagner of Louise, Texas, Exa York of Bryan, Iva Ellis of Houston, Kay Hall of Little Rock and Janice Wallace of Marshall; and one nephew, Jack Gilstrap of Allen.