Martha “Betty” Elizabeth Scanlon, 81, of Beaumont, passed away Sunday, January 29, 2012. A native and lifelong resident of Beaumont, she was born January 12, 1931, to Mary Devlin Scanlon and Harold V. Scanlon. Betty graduated from St. Anthony High School (now Monsignor Kelly Catholic High School) in May, 1947 and received a B.A. in speech from Northwestern State College in Natchitoches, Louisiana in June of 1950.
Betty began working in the accounting department of Gulf States Utilities (now Entergy) in the fall of 1950 and stayed with the company as an accountant/auditor until retiring forty four years later in 1994. While at Gulf States Utilities she made many life long friends and was a member of the Sideliners after retirement.
She loved Galveston, where her parents met, and built a beach house at Crystal Beach in 1957 to enjoy the beach. Her father and her sister, Mary Jo and family spent summer weekends at the house with her for many years.
As a child she enjoyed many vacations with her family and continued to travel with friends as an adult to Hawaii, England, Ireland, Italy, France, and Turkey and enjoyed several Caribbean cruises.
Betty’s passion was theatre and the Beaumont Community Players with whom she performed at the “Beaumont Little Theater”. When she was not performing, she was volunteering backstage or in the lobby with the audience. She collected the scripts of the many productions she was involved with during her life.
Betty, a devout Catholic, was a member of St. Anne Catholic Church since its beginning in 1937. She volunteered in several parish ministries and was a member of the 49+ Club.
Survivors include her nieces, Amy Van Horn and her husband, George of The Woodlands, Jane Brown and her husband, Fred of Waco, Peggy Etheridge and her husband, Greg of Richardson, Sally Bair and her husband, Mark of Pryor, Oklahoma, and Sue Middleton of Plano; fourteen great nieces and nephews; and brother-in-law, Carl Weisenfelder and his wife, Sue.
She was preceded in death by her sister, Mary Jo Weisenfelder.
A Christian Vigil will be 4:00 p.m., Friday, February 3, 2012, at Broussard’s, 2000 McFaddin Avenue. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated 9:30 a.m., Saturday, February 4, 2012, at St. Anne Catholic Church, 2715 Calder Avenue, Beaumont, with a graveside service at 1:00 p.m., at Calvary Cemetery, 2506 65th Street, Galveston, under the direction of Broussard’s.
In lieu of flowers, her family has requested that memorial contributions be made to St. Anne Catholic Church, P.O. Box 3429, Beaumont, Texas 77704-3429.
