Betty Watson Nugent

The immortal soul of Betty Watson Nugent left her earthly body peacefully while she slept in the comfort of her home of 57 years in Dallas, Texas, on the morning of October 11, 2024 (the Feast of Pope John XXIII) surrounded by loving family, and into the eternal care of her beloved Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Betty, the fourth of five children of Laura Higginson de Watson, and George Watson Prohias, both of Spanish and English heritage, was born in 1932 in the tiny town of Tumbes in northern Peru, just south of the equator, where her father, an English-educated accountant, owned a hacienda on the picturesque banks of the Tumbes River. In spite of these rural origins, Betty and her siblings would grow up in cosmopolitan Lima, the bustling capital city nestled between the Andes Mountains and the Pacific coast of Peru.

In Lima, Betty lived with her brothers, sisters, cousins, aunts, mother, and grandmother in a large historical building at Tacna and La Colmena Avenues in downtown Lima. The six female sisters and cousins living together in the same household called each other “hermanas-primas” (sister-cousins).

In 1947, at 16 years old, Betty was among those who gathered to witness Thor Heyerdahl set off from the coast of Peru in his raft the Kon-Tiki to cross the Pacific Ocean.

In school, Betty excelled in academics, to say the least, and was most proud of having attended the Sacred Heart School of Lima, and her lifelong association and friendships with her Sacred Heart school mates and the Catholic Sisters of the Society of the Sacred Heart (religieuses du Sacré-Cœur de Jésus, RSCJ) the Sisters who were her teachers and role models.

At the Sacred Heart School, an internationally renowned Catholic school system, active in 63 countries, she achieved the number one scholastic ranking in her class every year from first grade through 12th grade - without exception - of course graduating as valedictorian.

Betty was offered a scholarship to study at Barat College, another Sacred Heart school in Chicago, but had to decline because it only covered academic costs. After high school, Betty worked at times as a fashion model, landing a cover photo on Peru’s leading variety magazine, Caretas, and other publications.

Interestingly, she also worked, incognito, as a reporter on a local Lima radio station covering society news, where she was known on the air only as “La Dama Duende,” or “The Elf Lady.” For this job, she would attend Lima’s high-society events and report the details of the social events on her radio show, often mentioning who was seen dancing with or dating whom. She held this clandestine assignment until one day she was spotted by a friend in the lobby of the broadcast building, who figured out that she was La Dama Duende, and “outed” her. The gig was literally up, and so she quit radio.

An ambitious young woman, Betty soon found work as a professional copywriter for one of the largest and most well-established advertising firms in the world, McCann Erikson. Eventually, she would also sign on as a flight attendant in Peru, traveling throughout Latin America and to the US.

In 1958, her world forever changed when Betty was introduced to her American future husband of 43 years, John T. Nugent, a charming, hard-working, and handsome blue-eyed mid-westerner who was a pilot with Braniff International Airways, and a decorated veteran WWII fighter pilot, living in Miami, Florida.

Betty and John Nugent were introduced to each other in Lima by Betty’s hermana-prima Lucha and her husband Danny Llewelyn-Jones, a Braniff coworker and very close friend and golfing buddy of John. Danny and Lucha had insisted that they just had to meet each other for months before they did. Lifelong friends with the Llewellyn-Jones, Betty would call Danny every year on her wedding anniversary to thank him for introducing her to John.

After five dates they were married in 1958 in a beautiful Catholic Church ceremony in Lima, accompanied by the requisite civil marriage ceremony. The happy couple honeymooned in beautiful Rio de Janeiro, Brazil!

Betty moved in with John in Miami, where their three sons were born over the next few years, and where their young sons witnessed her take the oath to become a US citizen.

Having grown up in a house of mainly women, and now living in a foreign country, raising three boys was no doubt a challenge for Betty, as John was gone 50% of the time flying. But as in everything she ever did, Betty excelled as a mother. Once, she was alone with the three boys during a severe hurricane and actually walked across the street to the neighbor's house with the boys during the eye of the hurricane so they could all weather the rest of the storm together.

Each year, for many years, the Nugent family traveled to Peru to visit family. Flight benefits from the airline also allowed frequent visits to family in Illinois and New Jersey. In later years, Betty would visit Peru for a month at a time, visiting with family and lifelong friends, and, of course, enjoying amazing Peruvian cuisine.

In 1967, the Nugent family moved with Braniff from Miami into their new home in the comfortable north Dallas suburbs, where Betty would live for the next 57 years. In Texas, Betty was a super mom and helped out at the boys’ schools, often working as a substitute Spanish teacher, Room Mother, and as a chaperone on field trips. Her Latin charm beauty and devotion earned her the love and respect of many of her sons’ classmates, teachers, and friends.

Her sense of interior decoration reflected her artistic sensibilities and talents. An excellent seamstress, Betty had sewed her own clothes and even curtains and bedspreads for the boys' rooms. She enjoyed needlepoint, crochet, knitting, drawing, painting, and calligraphy. In later years, she was paid to illustrate advertisements for sellers in the Dallas Trade Mart fashion magazine.

Betty was an attentive mother and took loving care of her family all of her life. She was especially appreciated for preparing Peruvian specialty meals for the family which they love, including Peruvian-style Arroz con Pollo, Chupe de Camarones, and Ceviche! (Nobody made better Ceviche than Betty!) For many years, she grew her own Peruvian peppers in her backyard in order to have a year-round supply of her favorite spice, Aji Amarillo.

Betty’s lifelong hobbies included a passion for tennis and bowling, where she competed in a league alongside close friend Maria Crowley for many years. She was the first one in the Nugent family to play guitar; although she didn’t keep up with it, her sons all played.

Betty and John Nugent were a very social couple and became involved in many church, school, and community activities. They often hosted large parties at the Nugent house for all of the members of the church “circle,” for holidays, football games, or just to celebrate life with their many Latin and American friends.

At Christmas time, the Nugent household was a magnet for many years for neighborhood friends to stop by, celebrate, eat, drink (some beers or Pisco Sours), and sing some songs or watch football. The Nugent’s were invited every year for many years to celebrate the Fourth of July and Thanksgiving at the house of Art and Elsa Bolms, close friends of the family. Quadrennial family reunions for the American side of the Nugent family, in Texas, Illinois (Murrays), and New Jersey (Hahns) were legendary and memorable family celebrations that were held beginning in the US Bicentennial year of 1976.

Betty got her real estate license after John retired from Braniff in 1980, and worked as a broker for one year in a very difficult financial market. Not satisfied with the progress of her success in real estate, Betty eventually migrated into wholesale management, working for many years as a seller for Phil Bryan Associates at the Dallas Trade Mart/ World Trade Center, and later at Margot’s Collectibles. Betty’s expertise with wholesale specialty items and costume jewelry earned her one family nickname: “Bargain Betty.”

Betty was a beautiful, friendly, vibrant, active, loving, caring, social, compassionate, intelligent, bilingual, devoted, wife, sister, sister-in-law, mother, grandmother, aunt, and friend. She was a devout Catholic and a long-time member of the Holy Spirit Circle of St. Rita Catholic Community.

Betty maintained precious, lifelong relationships with local and far-flung friends and family, and especially enjoyed time with her Latin American friends in the United States and elsewhere. She enjoyed a long and independent life, driving her car to visit friends or for a hair appointment up until the last few months. She was and is beloved by everyone, and as a Matriarch and friend will be greatly missed.

Betty was preceded in death by her mother Laura Higginson de Watson, and father George Watson Prohias; her two sisters, Anita Watson de Lanata, and Molly Watson de Grosspietch, and her two brothers Jimmy Watson Higginson, and Harry Watson Higginson, of Peru; her hermanas-primas Lucha Garrido Lecca de Llewelyn-Jones, and Tencha Garrido Lecca de Botto, of Peru; and her husband John T. Nugent of Dallas.

Betty is survived by her hermana-prima Carmen Rosa Garrido Lecca de Cummings of Coral Gables, Florida; sons John Thomas Nugent (Valeria) of Dallas, Texas, George Watson Nugent of Everett, Washington, and Christopher Robert Nugent (Julie) of Bryan, Texas; granddaughters Brighid Ann Nugent of Austin, Texas, and Erin Elizabeth Nugent of Cleveland, Ohio, and numerous beloved nieces and nephews of “Tia Betty” across the USA and Peru.

A Rosary will be held at Sparkman Funeral Home at 1029 South Greenville Avenue, Richardson, TX, 75801, on Thursday, October 24, from 7:00 to 8:00 PM; (visitation from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM.) A Funeral Mass will be held at St. Rita Catholic Community Church at 12521 Inwood Road, Dallas, Texas, on Friday, October 25, 2024, at 1:00 PM. The Nugent Family will host a Celebration of Betty’s life at a venue and time to be determined, on the afternoon of Friday, October 25, 2024.

A private inurnment ceremony at DFW National Cemetery for immediate family will be held at a later date to be determined.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul of North Texas (https://svdpdallas.org/donate/)