Betty Fletcher

BETTY FLETCHER Betty Grace Stark Fletcher, 91, went to be with her Lord and Savior on Sunday, March 25, 2012. Betty passed peacefully in her home of 53 years at 1019 Kerbey. Betty was born in 1920 in St. Louis, Missouri to Dr. Larkin E. and Lydia M. Stark. The Stark family relocated from St. Louis to El Paso in 1928. Betty graduated from Austin High School where her mother taught Speech and Drama for over thirty years. During her high school years she belonged to the Beta Beta Beta Sorority forging a bond with a group of cherished and loving friends affectionately known as “The Lunch Bunch” that lasted nearly eight decades. Betty while still a Panther at Austin High began dating an El Paso High Tiger, Richard E. (Dick) Fletcher, that later blossomed into a romance and lifelong partnership. She earned her Baccalaureate at the Texas College of Mines (UTEP) in 1940 where she was a member of Zeta Tau Alpha Sorority and honored as a beauty queen. As the nation was thrust into war, she and Dick, then an Army Air Corps bomber pilot, were married in Fort Stockton, California. After World War II, Dick and Betty returned to El Paso to raise their young family. Her children include Richard Earl III, Stephen Chadwick, Larkin Eldridge, Dr. James Leighton, Elizabeth Anne and Douglas David. After her youngest started school, Betty began a 20-year career teaching second grade at Rusk Elementary. Always hospitable to neighbors and friends, she warmly welcomed all into her home. Betty enjoyed time spent with the Sunday Night Group, a weekly gathering of beautiful El Paso friends. She was devoted to her church, St. Clements Episcopal, and after retirement from teaching, served in the church’s Bargain Box thrift store and outreach to homeless. She is preceded in death by her parents, Dr. Larkin and Lydia Stark, her husband Dick, and two sons, Dick and Larkin. She is survived by Chad (Donna), Jim (Toni), Betsy (Steven Parker), Doug, Trish, Larkin’s widow, and nine grandchildren. The family is grateful to Dr. Branch Craige for his care and kindness, the La Mariposa Hospice team, who ministered to Betty and the family, and Maria Ovalle, loving caregiver. The family requests that donations in Betty’s memory be made to the Lydia Stark Memorial Scholarship in Speech-Language Pathology at UTEP. Visitation will be held from 5:00-7:00 pm, Wednesday, March 28, 2012 at Sunset Funeral Home-West. Funeral Service will be held at 11:00 am, Thursday, March 29, 2012 at St. Clements Church. Services entrusted to Sunset Funeral Home-West. Please visit our online register book at www.sunsetfuneralhomes.net