Betty J. Emery

Betty Jewell (Beaver) Emery was born on August 14, 1920 in Navasota, Texas. She grew up in Oklahoma City, OK surrounded by her parents Cora Evangeline and William Beaver and loving aunts and uncle. After graduating from Douglass High School, she entered Langston University in Langston, OK and graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Music. She also became a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. She taught in Dunbar School in Drumright, Oklahoma where she met her future husband, Sampson Irving Emery, who was principal of the one-room school. He had already graduated from Langston University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Mathematics and was a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity. They married on December 22, 1946 in Oklahoma City, OK.

After buying a house in Oklahoma City, OK, they became the proud parents of three daughters. While going to graduate school, Betty also taught piano lessons to Oklahoma City children on Saturday mornings. She earned a Master’s Degree in Education from then Central State University in Edmond, OK and taught second grade and fourth grade in Oklahoma City Public Schools for a total of 25 years.

She was a lifelong member of Tabernacle Baptist Church which she joined in early childhood. She served as a pianist during Sunday school, sang in the choir, taught Vacation Bible School, and served in a Missionary Circle. Her contributions to Tabernacle were well known.

She is survived by her three daughters, Dr. Cynthia (Nimrod) Chapel, Dr. Carla (Willy) Culberson, and Mrs. Denise (Jerry) Peery. She has two grandchildren-a grandson, Nimrod(Denise) Chapel, Jr. and great-grandson, Nimrod Thomas Chapel, III; and a granddaughter, Cynthia (Myles) Cochran, and great-grandsons, Maxwell Emery Cochran and Sampson Joseph Cochran.

Memorial services will be held on December 29, 2011 at Temple Funeral Home, 2801 N. Kelley Ave., Oklahoma City, OK. Services will begin at 6:30pm. Burial will be held December 30, 2011 in Dover OK.