Bette Dodd Beshears
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A celebration of Bette's life will be held on Sunday, May 16th, 2021 at the Lake Rayburn United Methodist Church at 2:30 with a reception immediately to follow at the Rayburn Country Club.
On Friday, April 23, 2021, Bette Dodd Beshears, a loving wife and mother of two children, passed away at the age of 85 after a two-year battle against Leukemia.
Bette was born on December 8, 1935, in Ida, Louisiana, to Merril and Velma (Hill) Dodd. She grew up in a number of small towns in East Texas and West Louisiana before graduating from Carlisle High School in 1953. Bette went on to attend Lon Morris Junior College and finished her undergraduate studies at Southern Methodist University in 1957 where she was active in the Delta Zeta sorority. She also earned a Master's Degree in Counseling from Lamar University in 1979.
A career educator, Bette began teaching in Andrews, Texas, where she met her husband Wayne Beshears. She taught a variety of elementary and high school grades as well as at the college level. Additionally, Bette taught adult Sunday School in Port Arthur.
Throughout her life, Bette was active civically including memberships with the Service League of Port Arthur, the Rotary Club, and Calvoilcade. At Rayburn, she enjoyed belonging to a number of social groups and a book club, the garden club, a supper club, and a couple's poker group as well as serving on Staff Parish and singing in the church choir.
Bette had a lifelong passion for the arts that spanned literature, music, theater, and art. She also loved the outdoors, particularly when it involved water such as the beach or lake. Bette was an active bird watcher and up until recently, a gardener.
Preceded Bette in death were her parents as well as her brother, Denny Dodd. She is survived by her husband Wayne, her two children Melissa Beshears Tolson and her husband Kirk Tolson, Matt Beshears, as well as three grandchildren Nicholas Tolson and his wife Anne Marie Hebert Tolson, Madeline Pierce, and her husband Tyler Pierce, and Virginia Beshears. She also had one great-grandchild, John Maxwell Pierce.
In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting donations to the Lake Rayburn United Methodist Church.
Services are under the direction of Stringer & Griffin Funeral Home of Jasper.