Betty Charlene Thompson

Betty C. Thompson passed away on January 8, 2024 at the age of 79 at home surrounded by her family.

She was born on June 20, 1944 in Frisco, Texas to Pat and Bobbie Lloyd.  She and her younger brother grew up in Fort Worth.

She married her high school sweetheart, Johnny, who was her best friend, Darlene’s, brother. They were happily married until his untimely death 36 years later. They had three children and chose to live near their families in Fort Worth so the kids could attend the same schools their many cousins did. They all spent lots of time in sports, games, camping and hanging out together.

In the 1980’s they moved to Granbury with their youngest son. Betty loved to garden and spent many hours turning their acreage into a beautiful garden of: trees, flowers and herbs. Her sweet little kitties would follow her around while she gardened. Three of her trees are the offspring of the Alamo Live Oak. 

Betty was a fifth generation Texan. Her family came from Wales and settled in Virginia in 1720. In 1820 her family moved to Texas to farm. She is a Daughter of the American Revolution (DAR) and a Daughter of the Republic of Texas. (DRT)    

She, our father and us kids had some vacations with lots of mishaps; some we would like to forget but they are just so memorable we cannot get them out of our heads!  Now that we look back, we can laugh at those adventures. She loved to travel. She has hiked: the Palo Duro Canyon, the Big Bend, the Guadalupe and the Franklin Mountains. She has attended star gazing parties at the McDonald Observatory in the Davis Mountains. She has seen all of the Texas coast and canoed the Rio Grand and slept on its banks in the Santa Helena Canyons. In the Rockies she went: snow tubing, dog sledding, snowmobiling in a white out, rode a snowcat above the snow line then ziplined back down the mountain crossing over rivers and stunning scenery. She also ziplined in Missouri and the Hill Country. She has visited the Appalachian Mountains plus the Alabama and Florida Coasts. She has been to San Francisco (back when it was beautiful). She swam with dolphins in the Bahamas and visited Niagara Falls. She went to Europe several times and visited eight countries. She has sipped wines while enjoying a six course dinner in a private olive grove on a hill in Florence overlooking vineyards lined with Italian cypresses. She has toured the Vatican, thrown coins in the Trevi, toured The Coliseum and has seen beautiful Roman sunsets. She toured Venice in a gondola while the gondolier serenaded her. She has sighed on the Bridge of Sighs and enjoyed gelato in St. Mark's Square. In Paris, she held out her pinky while she sipped floral teas and tasted the exotic flavors of macarons at LaDuree. She spent New Year's Eve 2017 celebrating in front of L'Arc Triomph on the Champs-Elysee and that was quite a party. She climbed the almost 400 steps up the bell tower at the Notre Dame Cathedral and got the best view of Paris. She then went up the Eiffel Tower to see the other best view of Paris. She did a walking food tour, and I mean real food, the French kind, in the Latin Quarter and climbed the famous hill on Montmartre to Sacred Heart. Don't tell anyone, but, she saw a fabulous show at the Moulin Rouge. She spent a day in The Louvre and saw the Mona Lisa; it's just not that big of a deal, y'all. Her favorite week in Europe was spent in Germany with her nephew, Clinton and his wonderful wife Dawn and daughter Emma who took her on day trips all over Germany plus to explore miles of the Maastricht Underground (these are caves) in Holland, they drove on the autobahn, sailed the Rhine River stopping whenever they wanted to tour castles and had custom made chocolates at the famous Lindt Chocolate factory and would drive to another village every morning to get German pastries and they picked fresh strawberries in these beautiful fields (forever). There are so many more places she visited and she enjoyed every minute of every trip.

One more note that cannot be missed. When her beloved husband passed away, she met a wonderful man named Jack. He loved her and treated her so well. He happily became Opa to her grandkids. We are grateful to have had him in our lives.

She had a great life. Always looking on the bright side no matter what was happening in her life or around her. She had no regrets. She gave us kids an awesome childhood and continued to be a huge influence in our lives. Mom, you will be desperately missed. We will always love you and dad. Now you are in Heaven with your Savior and your family who went before you. Rest in peace. Love, always.