Mrs. Cantwell was preceded in death by her husband of 56 years, Dr. Donald W. Cantwell, her father James Asbury Beaver, and her mother Virginia Lydia Mitchell, brothers-in-law Ernest Pierce, Winfred Canant, and sister-in-law Jayne Cantwell. She is survived by her sisters Olaree Beaver Pierce, Delores Beaver Canant, brother-in-law, Allen Cantwell; three children, Susan (Kermit) Seaman, William (Lora) Cantwell, and Carol Ann (Ken) Braziel; seven grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.
Betty Cantwell was an Art Teacher and Department Chair at Arlington High School for 18 years (1977 -1995). She received her Bachelor and Master of Fine Arts from Texas Women’s University in Denton, Texas; Master of Education in School Counseling from University of Texas at Arlington; and an English degree from Draughon’s Business College of Dallas.
Betty and her husband Don were active members of Park Row Church of Christ since 1959. In 1968, Betty felt it was important to start a program where children would enjoy learning in a God-centered environment. She hosted the first board meeting in her living room, joined with a team of willing mothers, which launched the preschool program at the church for their members and the surrounding community. Since the school planned to meet solely on Thursday mornings, they chose to name it “Thursday School”. Thursday School quickly grew from twice a week, to every day, and was later renamed The Children’s Center. Today, the school is called Park Row Christian Academy. When asked, Betty would say, “I feel starting this school was one of my life’s greatest accomplishments.”
After retiring from Arlington ISD in 1995, Betty worked in the registrar's office at UTA. She began taking creative writing classes, where she recollected her love of literature and writing, which then blossomed into publishing three books in the historical fiction genre, turning family stories into print. Betty’s writings have been published in Chicken Soup for the Soul, multiple issues of Christian Woman Magazine, Guideposts Magazine and other online publications.
Visitation for family and friends will be at 10:00am and Celebration of Life at 11:00am on Saturday February 17, 2024 at Park Row Christian Academy, 915 W. Park Row Drive, in Arlington. Interment will follow at Parkdale Cemetery at a later date.
In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be sent In memory of Betty Cantwell to Park Row Christian Academy 915 W. Park Row Drive Arlington, Texas 76013.
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