Betty Journeay

Betty Jo Cooper Journeay, born on August 13, 1927, died in the early morning of January 4, 2022, of natural causes after spending her final hours surrounded by loving family members. Betty was a proud, native Austinite, the daughter of William “Bill” and Grace Cooper and sister to Billy Cooper. Betty graduated from Austin High School in 1944 and the University of Texas in 1948. She had a life-long love of the University of Texas, counting many faculty members and SAGE members among her closest friends throughout her life. Her support of the UT football team never wavered, regardless of their season. She kept her prized football signed by the team in her china cabinet.

She met the boy next door, Glen “Pete” Journeay, while he was attaining his Ph.D. from the University, and they were married on September 4, 1948. She spent her life in Austin, except for nearly twelve years in Texas City, where Pete worked for Monsanto. She became a teacher in Texas City after having four children when Pete decided to return to school to get his MD. They returned to Austin for good in 1963, after their Texas City home was flooded by Hurricane Carla. They moved to Northwest Hills and remained in the same house until Pete’s death.

Betty was devoted to their five children. She was a Girl Scout leader, a Cub Scout den mother, a room mother countless times, and served as an officer in the PTA at Murchison Junior High and St. Andrew’s Elementary. She was thrilled to become a grandmother, and was delighted to be called Mammaw by her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She was an active and constant participant in their lives; babysitting and attending countless games, recitals and performances as well as hosting hundreds of birthdays and holidays.

After high school graduation, Betty, age sixteen, traveled by train to Mexico City to attend school. She was bit by the travel bug and spent more time soaking up the culture and traveling than she did attending classes. (She would have perhaps been bit by the acting bug if her mother had allowed her to accept the acting role she was offered in a movie.) She and Pete loved to travel, and they included family members in many of their adventures. Whether camping, skiing, cruising the seven seas, or just exploring, family was often part of the fun. Betty’s fear of flying didn’t prevent her from traveling the world with Pete, from Europe to New Zealand to the South Pacific.

She loved playing games. She and Pete were active in a bridge club, and she delighted in playing games and piecing together puzzles with her family. In her later years at Westminster, she let very little stand in the way of her game times. She will be sorely missed at the Bingo games at the Health Center.

Betty was quick with a smile and an offer of a helping hand. She was happy to stay in the shadows and let others stand in the light and take the credit. She brightened every life she touched. She will be sorely missed by the many friends she made during her long life, but most of all, by her family.

She was preceded in death by her loving husband, Glen Eugene (Pete) Journeay in 2015 and by her brother, Billy Dale Cooper in 2019. She is survived by her five children, Carol Ann Journeay, David Glen Journeay, Stephen Dunson Journeay, Nancy Catherine Journeay Jackson, and Janet Elizabeth Journeay. She leaves a legacy of twelve grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren.

The family would like to thank Westminster Assisted Living for the care and compassion provided in her final years. The family asks that in lieu of flowers a donation be made to the Alzheimer’s Association.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.cookwaldenfuneralhome.com for the Journeay family.