BETTY GAIL GARDENHIRE REESE, 69, died peacefully on
June 4, 2009, surrounded by her loving family at her
home in Ft. Worth, TX, with interment at Greenwood
Memorial Park.
Betty was born in Ranger, TX on Jan. 11, 1940, the only
child of her loving parents, Harless & Marie Sheppard
Gardenhire. She was raised in Ranger and graduated
from Ranger High School in 1958. Following high school
graduation, Betty attended Abilene Christian University,
earning a Bachelor of Science degree in business
education in 1961. She also completed all of the course
work required for a master's of library science from
the University of North Texas.
In May of 1960, Betty married her high school sweet-
heart and the love of her life, H. Michael Reese. In
1962, Betty and Mike moved to Fort Worth and built a
life together that was blessed with 49 years of marriage
and a wonderful family comprised of three loving children,
their spouses, five adoring grandchildren, to whom she
was "B," and, through the years, a house full of much-
loved Schnauzers, currently a giant, named Sconcy, and
two miniatures named Bagel and Mumpy. Betty spent her
life loving God, loving her family, sharing her gifts
with others and making her home a place where everyone
wanted to gather. She lived Galatians 6:10, which says,
"Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to
all people, especially to those who belong to the
household of faith."
Betty loved to read, loved to needlepoint, loved to
cook and loved to travel. She always had a stack of
books she was reading and could recommend a book that
you were sure to enjoy. She always had a needle-point
canvas she was stitching and filled her home with her
handiwork, including treasured needlepoint Christmas
stockings for all of her children and grandchildren.
Food was one of her many "love languages" & she always
had something wonderful to eat in the kitchen. And,
being a world traveler, she was always ready to head
to the airport. Betty was blessed to visit every
continent (except Antarctica) and had recently returned
from Australia and New Zealand in February of this year.
In 1988, Betty fell in love with her favorite place on
earth, Nantucket, MA, where she spent as much time as
she could and frequently invited family and friends to
join her. Whether it was spring, summer, fall or winter,
Betty was always ready to go to Nantucket and had just
returned from being there for Daffodil Weekend in April.
Betty was a gourmet cook and the consummate hostess. She
had a true gift for hospitality and was always willing to
open her beautiful home for gatherings of family & friends,
showers and dinner parties, church events, small group Bible
studies and book circle meetings. Anything that came out
of her kitchen was certain to be delicious, and wonderful
food was always provided in abundance. When her children
married, she created a cookbook compiled of special recipes
from family and friends, some of which had been handed
down for generations like the famous chocolate meringue
pie, as a treasured gift to the families of her children.
Betty's chocolate pie, which was featured in the summer
of 1982 in a Living section article in the Star-Telegram,
became a much coveted item that she took to friends when
a baby was born, a death occurred or someone was recovering
from surgery. There were people at her church who jokingly
wished for a reason to have surgery just in the hope of
receiving a "Betty Reese chocolate pie."
She was a life-long member of the Church of Christ and was
very proud of her church heritage. Betty was a student of
the Bible, a member of Altamesa Church of Christ and had
completed all of the studies offered by Bible Study Fellowship.
She taught Sunday school classes throughout her life, but
her greatest Bible teaching occurred in her home with her
children and grandchildren where the word of God was upheld
as the standard for living. At the age of 10, Betty accepted
Jesus as her Lord and Savior and was baptized into Christ.
As a result, she was confident in the gift of salvation and
her heavenly destination upon departing this life. In the
last few weeks of her life, as she began to lose her two-year
battle with a GBM brain tumor, she spoke with peace & assurance
about her future home in heaven and the homecoming celebration
that awaited with her loving parents and the many friends who
had predeceased her. She imagined that heaven would look
something like Nantucket to her.
Betty was a former librarian at Fort Worth Country Day, a
former officer of the Rejebian Book Club, a member of the
Fort Worth Lecture Society, the Fort Worth Club and Shady
Oaks Country Club. An 11-year breast cancer survivor, Betty
served as honorary chair for the 2008 Puttina on the Pink
event in Fort Worth to help raise funds for health screenings
and breast cancer awareness for under-served women in Tarrant
County.
Survivors: In addition to her husband, Mike, Betty is survived
by her children, Dan and Tamara Reese of Fort Worth, Tim and
Mitzi Reese of Austin and Cindy and Mike Melancon of Stillwater,
OK; her grandchildren, Keller and Connor Reese, Walker and
Maddie Reese and Margaux Melancon; and brother-in-law, David
Reese.