Sure wish you were here to see this but know you’re guiding us from above.

You are loved and missed every day! Your smile, kindness, love are still with us. We miss your potato salad, fruit salad, buttery pecan snacks and special desserts you made for your kiddos and grandchildren. Your scrambled eggs and milkshakes are legend! As are you. 

Miss you Memaw…..follow your lead everyday 😘

One more story that I think exemplifies the kind of Mom she was.  When Carter and I started dating, I was drinking cosmopolitans.  He wanted to know how to make them for me so he called her and asked.  She didn’t know, but she called the bartender at Golfcrest, got the recipe and called Carter back with it.  What a sweetheart!

In all the time I knew her, I rarely heard a cross word come out of her mouth.  The worst may be have been “Oh, John…”  I have heard tales of her throwing things at the boys and John when they would wrestle or just at John when he was being John, but I never saw her say or do one mean thing. She was not a pushover though, if you did anyone wrong that she loved, you were in big trouble.

She never showed up anywhere empty handed, there was always food or linens or something that was needed or wanted by whomever she was visiting.

Bettye Roper led a long and full life in the service of others, putting others first and helping when and where she could.

She hung on for quite awhile after John passed, a little over two years.  She told Craig on Friday before she passed that it was time for her to go. We’d like to think John was saying “Bettye, it's time to get up here” and so, finally, she did.

Your smile and gentle soul will be missed beyond words.  I know you and John are together again, golfing on the clouds.  I am lucky to have had you in my life.




Bettye was the epitome of a mid-century traditional wife, there aren’t many like her left.  She married John fresh out of high school and had her first child, Diane, at the age of 20.
As a young bride she was taught to drive by John’s sister, Ettabelle, or Aunt Belle.  

After living in Corpus Christi for a short time, they moved to Houston. Bettye raised three children while John was Manager of Maintenance at Ethyl and as a USAF reservist. Though John was there for dance recitals/baseball teams captain, he was gone a lot for both jobs.  And things always seemed to break down or happen when he was gone, like the AC going out in the summer (John was in Alaska) or Bettye breaking her arm. 

She was not solo often. I remember her telling me of a great adventure in Germany when she got there ahead of John and she and Edie Offield toured the countryside, including the autobahn, in a Volkswagen. She always smiled when she told that story.

When the kids were at college and brought home laundry, she did it without complaint or question.  When one of the boys failed to come home at night, she was so worried about him that she had John drive around at 2 in the morning to make sure said child was not in a ditch somewhere.

At Christmas she made beef tenderloin au poivre because no one liked turkey.  Waldorf salad was one of the favorites at the table.  I’d never seen so many presents under a tree when I attended my first Roper family Christmas.  She also had not one, but two, Christmas trees, complete with ornaments and matching wrapping paper in silver, gold, red and of course, maroon. There were fabulous decorations on the inside and lights galore on the outside, complete with wooden lawn ornaments that are still a part of the house on Fairway Circle.

She was loyal to her family, there for the ups and down and heartbreaks. She did not pry or ask questions but would listen if you wanted.  If you came home unexpectedly, you were welcomed with open arms and love.








Bettye was a great cook and catered to her family. She drank her  coffee black and did not care for breakfast.  Perhaps because she cooked bacon and eggs for John every morning for forty + years.  When Diane was away at school and Bettye in school, the boys were expected to join their Dad for breakfast. They would eat cake or grapefruit, as long as they had breakfast with John.  John would leave for work, the boys would go back to sleep and Bettye would then get herself ready, waking them up for school before she left.   Each kid had a favorite cake she would cook on their birthday, for Diane, yellow cake with chocolate icing; Carter, marble cake with chocolate icing, or chocolate cake with white icing and Craig, rocky road sheet cake.  Some of her famous and favorite dishes were her mustard potato salad, chicken salad, fried chicken, chili and apricot fried pies.  She would make large batches of these even after the kids were married and John would drop off portions. The grandchildren had milkshakes and cheese toast or fluffy, garlicky scrambled eggs on request. Sunday dinners were a ritual. On road trips she'd have Longhorn cheese, buttery roasted pecans, bread and butter pickles and crackers.  In her later years, french fries, Snickers,  Fritos and Cokes were her favorites. 

She was truly the hostess with the mostest. As the wife of a corporate leader and military officer she entertained many dignitaries, domestic and foreign, for dinner parties at their home.  Their annual Christmas parties were legendary. She hostessed bridge luncheons and the Golfcrest crew hung out at their house often.

Bettye was a great dancer and light on her feet.  She was also an accomplished seamstress, making dresses for Diane and later, quilting.  In addition to bridge and golf, she was a great bowler.  

She loved shopping, especially at Talbots, Brighton and Coldwater Creek.  She would take the grandkids shopping often.

Bettye was always thinking of and putting others first.

Que Sera Sera is definitely something I will always remember about Memaw. I would spend the night and she would hold me and sing, she would walk around the house and as I followed her she would sing over and over again. I also loved waking up to the music playing through her speakers that I thought was so cool then going into the kitchen for the BEST cinnamon toast EVER!!! I had the best Memaw!!!
Love you Memaw and I know you are in Heaven telling John "oh John" and you are both watching over us!!!
Que Sera Sera.....kisses
Lori Lump

A beautiful woman, inside and out, who put family first.  In the 18 years I had the pleasure of knowing her she never said a cross word to or about anyone.  She has rejoined John and I know they're playing golf in heaven.

OBITUARY

Bettye Jo Burney Roper

January 20, 1930 – June 11, 2019

Forest Park East Funeral Home & Cemetery

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