Betty J. Leeah

How do we put into words how much Betty Jean Leeah meant to all of us and how much she will be missed. She was a mother, a grandmother, a great grandmother, a wife, a friend and an inspiration to everyone who knew her. Betty’s life on Earth ended peacefully on Saturday, May 18, 2024, sometime after 2:00 AM. She was just shy of her 100th birthday by five months. Hers was a life well lived. As one of our friends stated, Betty was an American pioneer.

Betty Jean McLure was born on October 10,1924 in El Paso, Texas. Her parents were George W. McLure and Martha J. Lowman McLure and what a beautiful baby she was. Siblings soon followed. She had a brother, George W McLure and a sister, Edith (Dell) McLure within a few years. Betty and her siblings were very active and very close to their father. She was proud of the fact that her father was a scout for General Pershing and later Sheriff of Hudspeth County in Sierra Blanca, Texas. Her father built a cabin in the upper canyon of Ruidoso and they would bring their horses and spend their summers in the cool pines. She recalled riding her horse to the top of Mount Baldy. In those days, it was a full day’s journey on dirt roads to Ruidoso.

Betty graduated from Austin High School in El Paso in 1942 and attempted a semester at the University of Texas at Austin and quickly decided it wasn’t for her. She then decided to take a job at the Sierra Blanca Courthouse. During this time, Betty got the opportunity to learn to fly a plane. She told of a time when she and a couple of friends had to stay in the air until the cows cleared the pasture. Finally, after an extended period of circling the field, she brought the plane down.

In 1947, she married Joseph H. Leeah. Joe found employment at the Abercrombie Ranch in Gonzales, Texas. and they started a family. It wasn’t long before she and Joe had four children. Linda Sue Leeah, Joseph W Leeah, John Alexander Leeah and Jack David Leeah made for a rambunctious and boisterous family.

In 1959, they moved back to El Paso, Texas and it didn’t take long to adapt to life in the city. It wasn’t unusual to find Betty throwing a baseball in the back yard or taking a carload of kids to an Exhibition game at Dudley Field. As the kids got older, Betty got a job with Thomason County Hospital, as Assistant Executive Housekeeper and soon was promoted to Executive Housekeeper. She later accepted the Executive Housekeeper position when Sierra Medical Center opened its doors. Seventeen years later, she retired from Sierra Medical Center. Whatever she put her mind to, she did it well.

She and Joe loved to play golf. After retirement, they planned their vacations to play at different golf courses around the country. I don’t think it surprised anyone when she got a hole-in-one at the age of 82. Betty was always good at whatever she put her mind to, but she had a fun side as well. She loved scotch and water and had a thing for hats. She collected rocks and knew the names of most plants in the desert. We loved her dry sense of humor. Charitable and honest by nature, she tried always to live by those values.

Betty was predeceased by her husband, Joseph H. Leeah, who died on April 3, 2020. She is survived by Linda Leeah Page, Happy Leeah, John A. Leeah and Jack D. Leeah and their spouses. She had five grandchildren and ten great grandchildren.

A memorial will be held at Tobin Park United Methodist, 9410 Roanoke, El Paso, Texas on Thursday, June 6, 2024 @11:00. Lunch afterwards. On Friday, June 7, anyone who would like is welcome to attend burial services in Sierra Blanca, Tx and a time will be announced at the memorial service.