Betty Connatser, cherished mother, grandmother, and friend, died on January 28 after a long battle with Alzheimer's. Betty was born on January 25, 1926, on a farm outside of Josephine, Texas, the youngest of 16 children, to Jesse and Hattie May. In 1946, she married James E. Connatser, Jr. and together they raised a family of four children.
She worked for several colleges through the years, including SMU, Austin College, and Collin County Community College. But she considered her life's work to be in service to Christ. As a Methodist minister's wife she served in several churches in North Texas, including churches in Dallas, Allen, Cedar Hill, Oak Cliff, and Denison. After she was widowed in 1990, she became a member of First United Methodist Church in Allen, and devoted much time to various organizations there. She was very active in her Sunday School class and United Methodist Women, was on the Building Committee, a founding member of XYZ, a ministry to senior adults, as well as an Angel to that group, was singularly honored for her many decades of serving as a Delegate to the North Texas Annual Conference, and enjoyed her visits to the Holy Lands, the Walk to Emmaus, and many mission trips.
Betty loved life and thrived on keeping busy. Year after year, she orchestrated Easter sunrise services, put on live Nativity scenes with homemade costumes and populated by sheep and donkeys from surrounding farms, marshaled UNICEF drives, set up communion services, oversaw graduation ceremonies, and a myriad of other crowd activities. She loved family vacations, old hymns, fireside chats, the mountains in Colorado, early mornings, roses and iris. She was passionate about her family and loved to dote on her grandchildren. Her family will always hold dear her stories of growing up on a cotton farm, and the memory of her voice singing "Amazing Grace" and "Blessed Assurance" as she went about her daily housework.
Betty, known to her family as Tiny, was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Jim, and 14 brothers and sisters (siblings Alton May, Robert May, Weldon May, Clyde May, Argie May, Leon May, Irene Loftis Conine, Chester May, Hubert May, Arvie May, Lena Vaughan Stevenson Cooper, Evelyn Martin, Ruth Merchant Campbell, and, Gerald "Bud" May).
She is survived by her son Steve Connatser and wife Judy, and daughters Lynne Moore and husband Bobby, Janeen Farrell and husband Mark, and Gina Womble and husband Craig; grandchildren Adam Connatser, Angela Connatser, Jack Dear III, Erik Dear, Erin Hillman, Molly Farrell, Matthew Crawford, and Michael Crawford; and great-grandchildren Mary Katherine Connatser, McKinney Connatser, Shelley Luckau, Rachel French, Bryce Dear, Kirsten Dear, Ashton Hillman, and Chloe Hillman; one sister, Fay Montgomery, and many loving nieces and nephews.
Services will be held at 1:30 p.m. on Friday, February 1, 2013 at First United Methodist Church in Allen, Texas.
Visitation will be held 5-7 p.m. on Thursday, January 31, 2013 at Turrentine-Jackson-Morrow Funeral Home.