Betty Jean Edgington White of Pampa died Tuesday, November 10, 2020 at the age of 92.
Services will be at 11:00 AM on Saturday, November 14, 2020 at First Baptist Church in Pampa with Rev. Byron Williamson, pastor, officiating. Graveside services will follow at Fairview Cemetery in Durham, Oklahoma at 4:00 PM under the direction of Carmichael-Whatley Funeral Directors.
Betty was born on March 16, 1928 in Crawford, Oklahoma, the only child of Ray William Edgington and Almyra Susan Rorabaugh. She was born in a blizzard and the doctor had to come on horseback through the snow to deliver her. She entered the University of Oklahoma as a freshman at the age of 16, near the end of WWII. She pledged Alpha Gamma Delta sorority where she was president of her pledge class. She graduated in 1948 with a degree in Geology, and then returned to Crawford where she taught school for three years and eventually became the school principal. In 1954, Betty took a job at Celanese Chemical Company in Pampa where she met a young engineer named Jack Willis White. They married on October 1, 1955 and made their home in Pampa for the next 60 years.
Betty and Jack had three children: Gregory Kim (1956), Betty Katherine (1960), and Paul Mark (1964). In 1966 tragedy struck when both of Betty’s parents, her favorite uncle, and her oldest child were killed by accidental asphyxiation at the family farm in Crawford. Somehow Betty and Jack survived this devastating experience and focused on raising their two remaining children.
Betty was a very active part of the Pampa community. She and Jack were members of the First Baptist Church, where Jack served as a Chairman of the Deacon Board and Betty led the Women’s Missionary Union, served as chairman of the Missions Committee, and both taught Sunday School.
Betty was a long-time member of the Twentieth Century Cotillion Study Club, the P.E.O. Sisterhood, and the Daughters of the American Revolution. She served as President of these organizations several times over the years.
Betty loved to travel. She went to Spain, Taiwan, and Brazil on mission trips. She and Jack sailed down the Amazon River in Columbia, saw the Copper Canyon in Mexico, and traveled throughout the USA. When Paul Mark lived in Europe, they visited him in Geneva, Switzerland and Prague, Czech Republic. Paul Mark took them to all the great cities of Europe. He and Betty also traveled together throughout Russia, China, and Mongolia on a month-long trip. After Jack died on January 11, 2007, Betty and Paul Mark visited England, saw Egypt’s pyramids, and were in Jerusalem to celebrate Easter. Betty always kept her passport current and was ready to travel at a day’s notice.
Most importantly, Betty was a devout follower of Jesus Christ. She had read the Bible through every year since 1974 and knew many passages by heart. Her relationship with Jesus was the central focus of her life.
Betty was a devoted wife and mother, always trying to instill in her children the importance of faith in God and raising them up to be faithful servants in their home churches. She also gave them a sense of their rich pioneer heritage and was proud that her parent’s farm in Crawford was designated an Oklahoma Centennial Farm in 2009.
The incomparable, irreplaceable Betty White, with her sparkling eyes and beautiful smile, was a strong, capable, intelligent woman. She was dearly loved and will be deeply missed. All who knew Betty will mourn her passing but celebrate a full and gracious life.
Betty is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Rick and Kathy Amerson of Los Altos, California; and by her son and daughter-in-law, Paul Mark and Dinna White of Georgetown, Texas.
The family requests that memorial donations be made to the Opportunity Plan, Twentieth Century Cotillion Study Club at 504 24th Street, Canyon, Texas 79105, or to the Nehemiah Fund at First Baptist Church at 203 North West Street, Pampa, Texas 79065.
