Bette Schutze McLean

Bette Schutze McLean, age 95, a fourth generation Texan and Austinite, passed away peacefully on May 20, 2016 surrounded by family and caregivers at The Arbor at Westminster. Bette was born in Austin on November 10, 1920 to Adolph Edward Schutze and Bertha Adolphine Sterzing, both descendants of German immigrants who arrived at Indianola in the mid-1840s.

Bette was born and spent her early childhood and adolescence on the family homestead nestled among well over 50 huge pecan trees, having frontage on Barton Springs Road, Sterzing Street and Toomey Lane, just east of Barton Springs pool and the confluence of Barton Creek with the Colorado River. Bette coveted her childhood memories of swimming almost every day during the summer in Barton Springs Pool, frequent fishing trips up Barton Creek with her paternal grandfather, and of the large frequent family gatherings of German aunts, uncles and cousins held on the front lawn of her family's house.

For many years, Bette's parents operated a Texaco filing station and small grocery store on the Barton Springs Road frontage (which is now the original Chuy's restaurant location) with almost all fresh produce coming from the family gardens, orchards and cornfields located behind the family home – all tended to by Bette and her parents. Bette's father also worked for nearly 50 years for the UT Press, first as a linotype operator whose first job was to set type for the UT Law Review, and then in his later semi-retired years as a proofreader with close ties to the works of notable authors such as J. Frank Dobie, O'Henry and others.

After graduating from Austin High School in 1937, Bette entered the College of Fine Arts at the University of Texas at Austin majoring in music under the tutelage of Dean William Doty. She was one of the first music students to embark upon a dual major of concert piano and organ. During her junior year, Bette met the love of her life, William W. "Bill" McLean from El Paso, who at the time was working on his Master's degree in Chemical Engineering at UT where he was also a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Friars. He was later honored, in 1966, as a distinguished alumnus of the UT College of Engineering. Upon graduation in 1941, Bill joined Union Carbide Corporation at their Texas City plant location as a production engineer.

Following their marriage in Austin on December 21, 1941, Bette joined Bill in Texas City/La Marque to embark upon 49 years of married life together. And what a life it was as his employment with Union Carbide took them next to Ponce, Puerto where Bill was President of Union Carbide Caribe, Inc., the UCC Caribbean operating subsidiary, and then on to Scarsdale, NY where Bill was made Managing Director of Research for the UCC Chemicals Division at their research facilities Tarrytown, NY, followed by his promotion to Vice-President of Marketing and Production for the UCC Chemicals Division at the UCC Executive office then located in New York City. Retirement in 1976 took them to their mesa top home with 300 degree views outside Prescott, AZ, where they spent the next 15 wonderful years together making many new friends, keeping up with old friends, and traveling extensively throughout Europe, New Zealand and other wonderful places. Bill's retirement also provided Bette with the opportunity to pursue her real interest which, instead of a dual degree in piano and organ, would have been a dual degree in archeology and geology. Women weren't supposed to show interest in such things back in the 1930's. She was totally dedicated to Native American Indian history, especially those from the southwestern states which provided Bette ample opportunity to spend hours/days combing the desert floor and mesa tops for pot shards and interesting rocks. After Bill's death in 1991, Bette continued to live at both their Prescott home and their second home on the Blanco River in Wimberley, but in 1996 finally settled full time in Wimberley before moving in 2007 to Westminster Manor in Austin.

Bette's German ancestors arrived in Texas just prior to Texas becoming the 28th State of the Union, coming almost exclusively from Anhault, Dessau, Prussia (Germany). After initially purchasing property in the New Braunfels area and becoming active members of that community, additional property that had been pre-purchased through the German Immigration Company in Germany before embarking for Texas, the John Muesebach Treaty with the Comanche Nation allowed them to move into the Fisher-Miller Grant onto their deeded property in Fredericksburg. In anticipation of the coming Civil War, the families then sold all property owned in both New Braunfels and Fredericksburg in order to purchase land in and around Austin, most notably properties along Blanco Avenue between 10th and 12th Streets. Bette's maternal grandfather, Charles Theodore Sterzing, who was born in New Braunfels in 1851, later became a member of the Austin Star String Band, organized June 1, 1871 when he was just 20 years old. Her paternal grandfather, Henry William Schutze, was a cartographer with the Texas Land Office and a member of Austin Sangerunde. Bette fondly remembers that her paternal grandmother, Anna Weilbacher Schutze, whose family assisted in the formation of the German Free School in Austin, possessed an uncanny ability to predict events prior to their happening. A review of the Schutze and Sterzing family trees up to Bette's birth reveals how intertwined the original Austin Germany community was – including last names, in addition to Weilbacher, like Balser, Bohls, Fisher, Nitsche, Petmeky, Spillman, etc.

Bette was preceded in death by her (Aggie) older brother Dick Sterzing Schutze in 1970, her parents Adolph and Bertha Schutze in 1971, husband Bill in 1991, plus many first cousins, and all but one of her nieces and nephews.

Bette is survived by son William Patrick McLean (Rose) of Austin, daughter Karen "Katie" McLean of Seguin, granddaughter Karen McLean of Colorado Springs, grandson Dieter Erik von Schramm (Jessica) of Austin, grandson Jesse Michael McLean (Margaret) and their twin daughters Keegan and Olivia (Bette's great-granddaughters) of Dallas, step-grandson Josh Doherty (Dawn) and great-grandson William of Dallas and step-granddaughter Molly Hensley (Sean) and great-grandsons Jacob, Jaden and Drake of Bastrop. . Bette is also survived by a special friend of 50 plus years Juanita Walls of Seguin, along with first cousins Catherine Fisher Flahive of Austin, Bruce Sterzing of Virginia Beach, VA, Keith Sterzing of Cedar Park, Ross Sterzing of Austin, and nephew Jim Schutze of Magnolia, TX.

The family would like to thank Patricia and her team of caregivers from 2W at The Arbor at Westminster for their constant care and devotion to Bette's wellbeing and comfort for the last 25 months of her life, along with the Hospice Austin team lead by Sally Dykstra, RN and Peggy Stoll, Chaplin, and Dr. Michael Pelligrini, M.D.

Following Bette's wishes, a small private family members only celebration of Bette's life will be held on the banks of the Blanco River in Wimberley later on in the fall.

Memorial donations may be made in Bette's name to CureSMA at www.CureSMA.org, to the Sophienburg Museum and Archives at 401 W. College Street, New Braunfels, TX 78130, or to a favorite charity of your choice.