Betty Anderson

Service:
Saturday, January 3, 2009
2:00 PM
Memorial Service at St. John's United Methodist Church
Lubbock, TX

Betty Price Anderson, 75, of Fort Worth passed away on December 29, 2008, in her original hometown of Waxahachie after a lengthy illness. Betty was a tireless advocate for the health and well-being of all Texans. Born to Rev. Henry and Irene Price on August 18, 1930, she grew up in several Central Texas towns and received a BA from North Texas State University in 1954. Betty married Dr. John Anderson in 1956, and they moved to Lubbock in 1961 where John became a professor of chemistry at Texas Tech University. She obtained her MA from Tech in 1973 and received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the College of Human Science in 1986.
Betty served the Lubbock community in many ways as a member (among others) of the Urban Renewal Board, Lubbock Independent School District Committee on Excellence, Planning and Zoning Commission, South Plains Area Agency on Aging Advisory Council, PEOPLE FIRST, Saint Mary of the Plains Hospital Foundation Board, Rape Crisis Center, South Plains Aids Resource Center, South Plains Regional Workforce Development Board and the United Way Board. She was a founding member of the South Plains Food Bank. Betty has been named Lubbock Woman of the Year and received the Marsha Sharp Making a Difference Award, the Volunteer Center of Lubbock's Get Involved Award for Lifetime of Community Leadership, Lubbock's Women in Communication's George Mahon Award and the United Way Rita Harmon Volunteer Service Award.
One of her loves was the League of Women Voters which she served as the local and state president, as well as on numerous national committees. She received the 2003 League State President's Award and the National League's Voters Education Fund Leaders Award. Another passion was the American Association of University Women where she served as the local and state president and on the national board. She was named an AAUW Woman of Distinction, and the Lubbock branch was renamed in her honor. In addition, she chaired the Texas Committee for the Humanities and the Texas Commission on Women.
Betty served on numerous local and state committees and personally assisted the homeless, aged, disabled and children. Her state governmental appointments include the Texas Commission on Children and Youth, the Texas Department of Human Services Aged and Disabled Committee which she chaired and the Adult and Protective Services Advisory Committee. She had been a board member of the Center for Public Policy Priorities since 1994.
Betty served her faith as a member of St. John's Methodist Church in Lubbock where she was an elected delegate to Annual and General Conferences and served on the Board of Church and Society and the National Health and Welfare Committee of the United Methodist Church. In 1993, Betty received the SMU Perkins' School of Theology Woodrow B. Seals Laity Award for Service to Church and Society.
An exceptional mother and wife, Betty is survived by her husband John, sister Patsy, son and daughter-in-law Art and Kate Anderson of Dallas, son and daughter-in-law Dr. Dale and Brenda Anderson of Ft. Worth, four grandchildren and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.
A memorial service will be held at 2:00 p.m. Saturday, January 3, 2009 at St. John's United Methodist Church in Lubbock, Texas. Memorials may be made to the Texas Tech Foundation Betty and John Anderson Endowed Scholarship, Attn. Alicia Knight, P.O. Box 41017, Lubbock, Texas 79409; the Betty Anderson Internship at the Center for Public Policy Priorities, 900 Lydia Street, Austin, Texas 78702 or the South Plains Food Bank, 4612 Locust Ave., Lubbock, Texas 79404.