Bernadette H. Child

Betty was the much-loved only child of Charles Haas, who worked for a marine insurance company, and Jane Haas (née Harkness), a homemaker. She was born in Brooklyn in 1926, and spent her childhood there.

Betty received her primary and secondary educations in the Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn’s schools. She matriculated to Fordham University, from which she was graduated magna cum laude, and later earned an MA from Columbia University.

She met and fell in love with Thomas Child, originally from Toronto, Canada, while they were both working at the same advertising agency in NYC. They were married in 1951. The marriage was a fruitful one, producing four children, three boys and a girl.

Betty and her family lived in New York until 1961, when Tom’s advertising agency transferred him to San Francisco. They lived there in the Eureka Valley/Castro neighborhood until 1971, when Tom was transferred to Houston because of Shell Oil’s relocation of its US headquarters there. Because of Tom’s frequent travel it was Betty’s lot to manage both moves, which she did with her typical efficiency, good humor, and aplomb.

Shell’s corporate relocation and the attendant “Shell Diaspora” meant that Tom and Betty already had many friends and acquaintances in Houston, especially in the Memorial area where they settled, thus easing their transfer somewhat, but the move to Houston was not without tragedy. Betty’s mother died suddenly in late 1972, and Tom died a few months later in 1973 from the cancer he had been diagnosed with in the late ‘60s. Betty and her family were able to surmount these travails, and friends of the family later commented favorably on the four children’s dedication to their mother.

After Tom’s death Betty started doing more volunteer and charitable work, which became her primary focus after her younger children left home for college. She was named a Houston “Volunteer of the Year” in the 1990s for her work with CASA (Child Advocates). She continued her charitable work until age and ill-health forced her to retire from it.

Betty remained active as long as she could. She never remarried. She regularly played tennis with her Memorial friends and neighbors, and also traveled extensively when she could with a group of her life-long friends. She loved San Francisco, white wine, and most of all her family.

Betty is survived by her three sons, Christopher, Charles, and Thomas, her daughters-in-law Kathi and Marylen, and seven grandchildren. Her daughter Jane died in 2012.

The family wishes to especially thank Jeanné Cox for her great friendship and devotion to Betty.

Betty was a 20+ year breast cancer survivor, and the family respectfully requests that in lieu of flowers donations be made in her name to the M.D. Anderson Foundation.

Because of the pandemic there will be a private funeral and burial, but the family plans to host a celebratory memorial of Betty’s life once it is safe enough again to do so.

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