Neva Elizabeth “Betty” Park Cuthrell, 93, died, on Sunday, April 3, 2011. She was born on December 8, 1917, in Atlanta, Georgia, the daughter of Nena Andrews Park and Robert Homer Park. After an untimely death of her father, Betty with her brother Bob and their mother, moved from Atlanta to Beaumont, where they lived with Betty’s maternal grandparents.
While in high school she met her sweetheart, Vernon Camp Cuthrell, Jr., and they were married on June 5, 1935, in Beaumont, Texas.
Highly interested in the arts, Betty attended the Parson’s School of Design in New York, where she was a fashion model and an avid devotee of the theater. A born and cultivated “people person” she was “May Queen” of her high school graduating class. She was a member of the Junior League, The Roccoco Club, The Cotillion Club, The American Society of Interior Design and Saint Mark’s Episcopal Church.
Combining her interests in people and the arts, she organized and operated her own business, Cuthrell & Daughters Interior Decorators until her recent retirement. She loved to travel and made many interesting trips with her daughter and friends, returning not only with grand treasures but with stories only Betty could tell.
She is survived by daughter, Claire Cuthrell Slaymaker; grandchildren, V. Camp Cuthrell IV, Richard Orgin Cuthrell, Benjamin Cuthrell, Dillon Cuthrell, Christopher Slaymaker; great-grandchildren, Catherine Cuthrell and Carly Cuthrell.
Her graveside service will be 2:00 p.m., Saturday, April 9, 2011, at Magnolia Cemetery, 2290 Pine Street, under the direction of Broussard’s, 2000 McFaddin.
Memorial contributions may be made to St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 680 Calder, Beaumont, Texas 77701 or to the Alzheimer’s Association, 700 North Street, Suite M, Beaumont, Texas 77701.
